


Lapidot Shorts

by edgyjordan



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Bullying, F/F, Fluff, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Self Harm, Sharing a Bed, Short Stories, Stabbing, Zoo, i'll update the characters as they come, i'm not really sure where some of these are going, peridot is an insomniac in like all of the shorts, so i'll up the rating if i have to, theres probably gonna be a bunch of aus too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-05-16 05:48:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5816533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edgyjordan/pseuds/edgyjordan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A bunch of shorts about Lapidot.<br/>Because shorts are better than plot heavy stories...?<br/>You can always send me prompts via my tumblr: http://takathetrash.tumblr.com/<br/>Keep in mind I don't check my tumblr a lot, so sorry if you send one and I don't get to it. Don't be shy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Sickness

**Author's Note:**

> So I said I'd do a series of shorts and I never got to it, but now I have! The first short (prompted by my friend) is about Peridot being sick. Enjoy and give me some requests.  
> I'm also really sorry if the first short is badly-written. I wrote it at night so I wouldn't forget about it in the morning, but I can assure any other ones will be top notch. Thanks!

"Peridot, you should really stop picking up and eating things from the floor."

"I don't do that! That's not how I got a fever!" Peridot responded angrily.

Lapis tapped the thermometer. "Are you sure about that? I mean, it's always possible."

The short girl was tucked under the covers of her bed, practically shrouded in ice packs and a wet flannel placed on her forehead. Her much taller girlfriend seemed to not be so concerned about her current state. Peridot let out a groan.

"It's so hot. I can't stand it."

Lapis raised a brow, smiling. "Even with all those ice packs around you?" She shook her head. "Oh, Peridot. What am I going to do with you."

"Not be condescending while I'm sick?" Peridot asked.

"It was a rhetorical question. You weren't supposed to give it an answer. However! If you insist, I'll be the caring girlfriend for today." Lapis gave a short bow and Peridot rolled her eyes. "What might I bring you today?"

Peridot shifted, turning face down. "I'm hot."

"I know you are, Peridot. That's why I'm dating you." Lapis sighed convincingly.

"Yeah, but I'm really hot." Peridot groaned, kicking her legs.

"No need to flaunt it so much, Peridot. I get it, you're damn hot." Lapis huffed, putting her hands on her hips.

"Please take off the covers. I feel super sick." Peridot continued, ignoring Lapis.

Lapis rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Fine." She tore off the covers, throwing them aside. "Now what else do you want?"

Peridot turned around to face Lapis again. "My fever meds."

"Where?" Lapis asked.

Peridot pointed meekly to her desk. "On there."

Lapis retrieved the medicine, shaking her head as she handed them over. "What would you do without me? Do you want some orange juice with that, your highness?"

"Yes, please." Peridot replied with a small, hopeful smile.

Lapis sighed, grabbing Peridot's cup and coming back moments later with a cup of orange juice, setting it down on Peridot's bedside table. She took her medicine and Lapis gave her the thermometer to test her temperature once more.

"You have such a shit immune system. Are you gonna be okay?" Lapis asked, concerned.

"We'll see. I'll probably be fine." Peridot puffed. She looked at the thermometer, sighing in relief. "It's gone down."

"Does that mean I can stop being your slave now?" Lapis asked.

Peridot let out a gasp. "No! If you don't keep helping me, how am I supposed to live? Your my girlfriend, you're supposed to take care of me when I'm sick."

Lapis rolled her eyes at her girlfriend. "Fine, your highness. What might I, your slave, do for you?"

Peridot patted the space next to her and proceeded to prop herself up on the bed's headboard. Lapis sat down, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. "What else, your highness?"

"The queen demands you stop calling yourself her slave and would much prefer you called yourself the queen's girlfriend instead." Peridot responded.

"But slave sounds better." Lapis protested.

"And dirtier. Imagine if somebody heard me calling you my slave and took it entirely out of context. That would be terrible." Peridot reasoned.

"Fiiine. And what else does the queen want from her girlfriend?" Lapis asked.

"A kiss." Peridot demanded.

"Are you trying to make me sick, Peridot?" Lapis huffed. "Because I don't want to get sick just because I kissed you."

"It's not like you haven't kissed me before."

"But all those other times you weren't sick like you are now, so it was safe to kiss you and I knew I wouldn't get sick because of it. I know I'm going to get sick if I kiss you." Lapis complained.

Peridot gave her an offended look. "Come on, you never know if you don't  try, Lapis."

"Fine. I'll do it." Lapis grumbled. She shuffled around to get a better angle and leant forward, giving Peridot a quick peck on the lips. She immediately wiped her mouth afterwards.

"Maybe this is why nobody wanted to date you?" Peridot asked.

"That's not true. Loads of people want to date me. I'm cute, smart, strong..." Lapis began.

"...and a total weirdo." Peridot finished.

"Well, I'm a good kind of weirdo." Lapis insisted.

"And somehow I'm stuck with that weirdo." Peridot muttered quietly.

"Well, I'm glad I'm stuck with you." Lapis replied, leaning in to give Peridot another kiss, a little longer this time. "Even if I do get sick, it was worth it." She chuckled.

"...I'm glad I'm stuck with you too." Peridot mumbled, giving Lapis a small smile.


	2. Fireworks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's new years eve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda based this one on the 4th of July by Fall out Boy, but in England we don't celebrate such an occasion.  
> So it's new years instead.   
> This wasn't requested, I just wanted to do my own thing. The next one is an actual request.

The dark was nice. Peridot thought it looked beautiful. Everything was fine. It felt like heaven. She knew, however, that in several minutes it would be disrupted by fireworks exploding into the air. She couldn't let that thought bring her down. She had her own time with Lapis, and she was going to use it. She would tell Lapis how she felt before the new year.

"Peridot?" Lapis asked, glancing over.

"Y-yes, Lapis?" Peridot asked, nearly slipping up in the process.

Lapis let out a soft chuckle before stopping herself. "You've been quiet. Is there something on your mind?"

"It's... Nothing." Peridot muttered, propping herself up on her hand, looking over the balcony and into the town below.

"...Do you have any plans for the new year? Any new year resolutions?" Lapis asked.

"I'm going to be more honest with myself and everybody else." Peridot mumbled, looking off into the distance.

"You... Haven't been honest?" Lapis raised a brow, leaning on her own arm now.

"No, not really." Peridot hummed. "I want to use this new year as an opportunity to start over."

"Yeah. That's what I did last year after... You know." She looked away from Peridot.

"But you've gotten a lot better." Peridot remarked.

"I have. I don't know where I'd be if I hadn't improved." Lapis muttered.

Peridot shook her head. "I'm proud of you."

Lapis gave a small smile. "Thanks, Peridot. I wish you luck with your new years resolution."

It was silent for a moment, so Lapis spoke up again. "I'm glad I got to stay with you for new years."

"Yeah, me too. I didn't want to spend new years alone, since my parents are gone on a trip." Peridot replied.

Lapis gave her a warm smile. "I'm happy to stay with you for new years. That's what friends are for."

Peridot checked her watch quickly. "About 10 minutes until midnight." She murmured.

10 minutes left to tell Lapis she loved her. 10 minutes left to practically change her entire life. She let out a quick sigh before falling completely silent.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Lapis asked, inching closer towards Peridot.

"I'm fine, really." Peridot reiterated.

She wanted to speak up, but time only ticked by while the pressure she felt to confess built up in her. She was anxious and scared and the situation with just the two of them wasn't helping. Lapis seemed worried about her and that was merely a factor that made it worse. She had to do it. She had to speak her mind.

"Lapis, I--"

"Peridot, I--"

They had both spoke at the same time. How awkward that was. Peridot felt like this was just the end. Interrupting each other was horrible.

"Sorry, you go first." Lapis offered with a chuckle.

"No, no. You go first." Peridot smiled sweetly.

"You go first." Lapis responded insistently.

"No, you."

They went back and forth for a minute until Peridot realised that she was running out of time, so she jogged it on.

"Okay. Fine, I'll go first." She grumbled, recollecting her thoughts. "I just need to tell you something."

Lapis' facial expression was quickly replaced with that of sorry and fear. "Is there something wrong?"

Peridot sidled closer until she was much closer to Lapis, the moon shining above them. Two minutes. Two minutes to go.

"I need to confess something." Peridot muttered.

"...Go on." Lapis offered.

Peridot swallowed heavy and she couldn't speak for a moment, beads of sweat formulating. She shook it off and wiped the sweat, replacing her expression with a determined one.

She could hear people yelling a count down now. She bit her tongue. "I..."

Subconsciously,  Peridot's face moved closer to Lapis', only inches apart now. Lapis did have to lean down to get her face close to Peridot's, which meant something.

"I want to tell you that I... I like... I like, like you!" Peridot exclaimed. She heard a "one!" being exclaimed and fireworks shot off into the sky.

In response to the new year, Peridot immediately grabbed Lapis' cheeks and pulled her face down to meet her lips easier, giving her a kiss that lingered a little longer than she expected.  She did it. She did what she had wanted to do. She had confessed.

And then the realisation hit her once she pulled away. She had confessed to and kissed Lapis Lazuli. This was so... Awkward and uncalled for. Lapis was completely silent and the only sound was the crackle of fireworks above them. Peridot's eyelids drooped as she suddenly became extremely self-conscious.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean any of it... I just got too lonely..." Peridot muttered, pursing her lips.

Lapis hushed her. "No, it's fine. That was exactly what I was going to tell you, too."

Peridot felt herself go red and covered her mouth, taking s step back. The amount of fireworks being shot up had started to decline by now. Behind her hands, she was smiling, wide and happy. "Are you serious?"

Lapis' soft smile widened into a relieved grin, and she nodded. "I'm serious. That's what I was going to say to you." She seemed like she was almost jumping with joy. "And this was a perfect opportunity, but I guess you got to it first." She let out a quiet chuckle, shrugging. "Thank you, Peridot."

Lapis grabbed Peridot's hands and pulled them down from her mouth, clasping them before leaning down and giving the short girl another quick kiss. The sky was quiet again and the moment was exactly as it should be. They both shut their eyes, relishing in the moment of peace before ending it. "I'm glad I invited you here, Lazuli." Peridot muttered, smiling softly.


	3. Animal Education feat. Steven Universe!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lapis and Peridot go to the zoo and Peridot learns about the shark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this one is an actual request ab Peridot and Lapis seeing animals for the first time  
> It's cute  
> They're cute  
> I love them  
> Sorry if I messed up anywhere pLEASE SEND ME MORE REQUESTS I HAVE LIKE NONE

"Lapis, Peridot, let me introduce you... TO THE ZOO!" Steven yelled, spreading his arms to point to the various sounds of wildlife. Peridot cringed and Lapis looked wowed.

"It's rather loud, isn't it?" Peridot grumbled, hissing at the sound of a monkey hollering loudly. "So loud it's painful."

"I don't think it's so bad!" Lapis yelled over the sound of the zoo. "It's interesting!"

"I think we should get going..." Steven mumbled, looking at the amount of people gathering behind Lapis and Peridot waiting for the line to advance.

Soon enough they were in the zoo. Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl had moved along while Steven had decided to stay back with Lapis and Peridot to share his "knowledge" of animals with them. "That one's called a tiger!" He pointed to a bengal tiger pacing it's cage and they watched as it turned it's face to them. Steven jumped up and down excitedly to signify the importance of such a creature.

"They don't seem particularly... Friendly." Peridot muttered, examining the tiger. "Although it has a sleek body, ideal for running fast to catch... Prey. What does it hunt for, Steven? I'm assuming it eats, like... a human."

"Uh... My dad told me that tigers ate deer and bison." Steven replied, thinking.

"Where are these so called 'deer and bison'? I demand you take me there! I must see them!" Peridot demanded.

Lapis chuckled. "You seem a little more excited than when we entered. But where's the..." She proceeded to push Peridot aside, her eyes widened like a lunatic. "The _marine_ life."

"If you wanna see the fishes, we'll have to go to the fish exhibit. But I think we should really go through the mammals first." Steven explained. "But when you see them, it'll be worth it!"

And so they continued walking, getting extremely excited over the different sorts of animals. Both Lapis and Peridot were intrigued by the penguins and admittedly both enjoyed watching them. Steven called the penguins 'cute'. Peridot called them 'aesthetically pleasing' and Lapis called them 'the animal version of herself'. Peridot stared at her once she said it.

"What? You're not a penguin. You're not nearly as aesthetically pleasing." She complained.

"That's impolite of you, Peridot. These penguins are strong and... independent... like me." Lapis remarked.

Peridot chuckled. "Independent? They rely on the zookeepers for their food. Are you calling yourself a caged zoo-penguin?" 

"I am a free bird." Lapis shot back. She clenched her fist in front of her place. "Catching fish in the ice caps, far away from here."

"Ha ha. Very funny. You're more like a lazy tiger living in the wild." Peridot replied with a smug grin.

"I thought you liked the tigers though." Lapis asked, tilting her head.

Peridot narrowed her eyes and thought, "Well-- Yes, I suppose I did... " She proceeded to turn on her heel. "Stop asking me questions!"

Peridot swiftly walked away to continue to the next part of the zoo, leaving Lapis and Steven behind. "She sounds annoyed." Steven muttered.

Lapis puffed out her chest victoriously. "I bested her with her own logic. What a way for her to go." 

"Poor Peridot." Steven sighed before walking forward again. Lapis paused before following after him, running ahead to catch up with Peridot.

"Finally! The place I've been waiting for! The animals in the ocean. I've been looking forward to seeing some of these again." Lapis hopped from foot to foot as they entered the aquarium. Peridot let out a grumble.

"We're looking at the reptiles after this." The green gem grunted.

"Okay, as long as I get to see the fish." Lapis smiled, walking from container to container, looking at the fish inside. Peridot smiled slightly, admiring the ocean gem's excitement and energy. 

"You seem happy." Steven said from next to her.

Peridot jumped. "S-Steven! I did not realise that you were... um, next to me."

"I was always here... Why don't I have any presence?!" Steven asked, yelling to the ceiling above.

"Because, Steven--" Peridot began. Her smug smile dropped and she thought. "I don't know. Maybe we should be paying more attention to you than each other."

"This was supposed to be a bonding experience, so we should experience everything together!" Steven puffed, wandering over to Lapis, letting Peridot fall behind to follow. "And I shall tell you about these fish!"

They were in front of the shark exhibit. Steven was about to go on a tangent, explaining the shark. "This here is a shark! A predator of the ocean, very dangerous! My dad told me it even eats people! But... Not that often. It's really unlikely to get eaten by a shark, so don't watch the movie Jaws! Or Sharknado! They both lie to you..."

Peridot was only half paying attention, focusing on the shark tank. Or, more importantly, who was in front of the shark tank staring at them excitedly. Of course the tall blue gem would be enamoured with a predator of the ocean, despite there being stronger ones. Besides, the shark couldn't breathe on land. It had gills rather than lungs, unlike other mammals. It was, in essence, a much lesser animal than the likes of say, a cheetah. 

But a cheetah wouldn't last long in the ocean, after all. Peridot looked deep in thought as she considered the questions, staring intently at Lapis. From any and all angles, it looked rather odd. Steven had stopped talking to stare at Peridot staring at Lapis staring at a shark. What happened next was a chain reaction, the shark excluded.

Lapis realised she was being stared at by Peridot, Peridot realised she was being stared at by Steven and now they all stared at _each other_. Steven let out a soft whistle, pretending he wasn't doing anything as Peridot shot daggers at him with her eyes. Lapis looked mildly confused and stared at Peridot until she turned her gaze back and their eyes met. The shark still didn't seem bothered by any of this. 

"Peridot... Why were you staring at me?" Lapis asked from by the tank.

"I wasn't staring _at_  you. I was contemplating the sharks behind you." Peridot insisted, folding her arms.

"No, no. I think your eyes were on me and not the sharks." Lapis murmured, walking forward a few paces.

"I definitely wasn't thinking about you at least. I was thinking about the sharks." Peridot retorted, not letting go of her argument.

"If you were thinking about sharks, how come you were staring at me and not the sharks? Last time I checked, I'm not a shark." 

"You could be a shark with that attitude..." Peridot murmured, glaring.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you say that." Lapis said, smiling sweetly.

"My thoughts haven't changed. Your even more of a shark now." Peridot replied. She gave a condescending smile, trying to look taller despite being a lot shorter than Lapis. 

"I'm not a shark. Steven, what do sharks do?" Lapis asked, turning her head to Steven.

"They... Eat fish... and sometimes people, but not really... I just told you about this! Weren't you listening?"

"No, not really." Lapis replied bluntly.

"Well... It's less likely that you'd get eaten by a shark than it is to die in a plane crash. They're not _that_  bad, but they're big and scary." Steven finished.

"That description just about fits you, Lazuli." Peridot said, smiling smugly.

"Well, Peridot... You're a lazy green tiger. A _small_  lazy green tiger. A lazy green tiger cub. You're also a fluffy tiger." Lapis huffed, crossing her arms.

There was silence for a moment and Peridot stared at Lapis with a brow raised. "Why am I fluff-"

"An _annoying_  fluffy green tiger cub. Don't question my logic, Peridot." Lapis interrupted.

"Why can't I just be a normal tiger? You're a normal shark-- I don't even _want_  to be a tiger! I don't want to be an animal, either. I'm not an animal. You're an animal." Peridot hissed.

Lapis narrowed her eyes into slits, furrowing her brows and glaring at Peridot with a angry gaze. The green gem immediately felt like taking back the insult. "Okay, you're not an animal--"

"Oh, Peridot, you should really think before you talk." Lapis interrupted yet again.

Peridot bit her lip, holding back a torrent of insults and anger to replace it with calmer words, despite the struggle. "Stop interrupting me."

"I can't help it," Lapis said with a shrug, "I don't want to hear what you have to say."

Then she proceeded to turn on her heel, walking away to follow after the Crystal Gems who had by now gotten to the end of the marine exhibit. Peridot grit her teeth, her eyebrows furrowed in anger. She felt Steven pat her shoulder sympathetically. Swatting it away, she began to follow after Lapis and Steven walked with her.

"You okay, Peridot?" He asked, an air of genuine concern in his voice.

Peridot hissed a response."She never listens to me."

"Aw. I'm sure she'll listen to you, she just wants to look smart in public. People are staring." He leant in to whisper something, "I think these people think you were having a couple argument."

Peridot's face flushed dark green and her eyes widened reflexively. "No way! I would _never_  like Lapis Lazuli like _that_!" She shot back defensively, wrapping her arms around herself.

"I don't know Peridot, I'm convinced. If you don't like her like that, then why are you getting defensive about it?" Steven asked.

"Yeah, Peridot. Why are you getting defensive about it?" Came a voice from the left of them.

Lapis Lazuli, leaning by the exit of the exhibit. Oh no. Peridot let out a quiet squeak, shrinking back slightly.

"I'm not getting defensive! I'm not!" Peridot barked. Her face was a deep green by now, nearly covering her entire face. "I'm not!" She ran forward to catch up with the Crystal Gems, covering her face to cover the still-growing blush.

"She's a real riot, Steven. Do you think she's being entirely honest with us?" Lapis asked, turning to Steven.

Steven replied with a shrug. "I thought you'd know. I mean, I think you've known her for longer... right?" 

"The inner mechanisms of her mind are an enigma. I think she likes me." Lapis replied, placing her hands on her hips and giving a smug grin.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Lapis..." Steven muttered. "We should probably go catch up with the gems." He ran off and Lapis followed behind, a smirk pasted on her face.


	4. We're Not Alright

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two girls who just want to be normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This made my friend cry???  
> So I'm sorry if you cry but that's the intended purpose of it.  
> It's pretty sad, so I'm sorry if it triggers you. If you want, you can always skip it and wait for the next one!  
> You've been warned.

People were angry at other people for stupid reasons. Somebody could be angry at somebody they didn't even know. Lapis and Peridot found this out the hard way. The hard way was the worst way.

Apparently, two girls holding hands was one way to make people mad. A good way to make people glare at you. Nobody said anything, but they could feel the glares. They stopped holding hands recently, out of fear that the piercing glares would pierce through them. The same people would glare and the same people would whisper in hushed tones.

It gradually got more tedious until neither could take meeting in public anymore. Lapis would go to Peridot's house, but never vice versa. Lapis' parents wanted her to have a boyfriend. Lapis didn't want that at all. However, Peridot's parents didn't care. Her house was the only safe zone it seemed to them, and her parents weren't even home half the time. But soon, they'd both leave for college and it's be the end of the homely hospitality. They had no idea what college was like.

To get used to it, they started meeting in public again, but only friendly gestures. The pressure of the few glares shot their way was enough to bulldoze a wall, let alone their self esteem. They were scared of everybody. People at school, people at home, everybody. It scared them so much, and they didn't know how to work around it. They had no idea what to do, stuck in the rabbit hole.

"Peridot, I can't do this anymore..." Came the natural response to their situation.

"Lapis, please don't say that." Came the natural reply. "I love you. I don't want this."

"Shit, Peridot, I just... I really can't. I fucking can't, with all this pressure and all those eyes on me. I love you too, but it just never stops. It won't stop, no matter what we do." Lapis responded, tears welling up in her eyes. "I want to do so much more with you, but people just want to shit on us and ruin our fucking lives."

"Lapis, we can get through this together. We don't need other people, please just let me help you, please..." Peridot begged. She, too, had tears in her eyes. She looked like she was about to break down.

"I don't get it, Peridot. Why am I not even allowed to love you? To hold your hand?" Tears streamed down her face and she buried it in the crook of her shoulder. "I just want us to be happy."

"We can. We will. Don't give up on me, okay? Don't. I'll keep loving you as long as you keep loving me." Peridot mumbled, interlocking their fingers, leaning close.

"Okay. Okay, I'm sorry. We'll be fine. I love you. I'll keep loving you." Lapis let out a sniffle and gave Peridot a smile, separating their hands.

"Good. I love you too." She smiled back and wiped a tear from Lapis' eyes.

They thought their love would last forever. But it's hard when everybody hates you. Their small group of friends that had yet to distance themselves from the pair didn't see them much and they were still glared at wherever they went. No matter how much of a low profile they kept, people would still stare. It made Peridot angry and Lapis sad.

"They can't just keep on fucking staring at us! It's the 21st century, get with it!" Peridot snapped.

"Peridot, please calm down." Lapis mumbled weakly.

"How the fuck am I supposed to calm down? Lapis, this is our entire life. This is us, and people look at us like we're trash." Peridot yelled.

Lapis had begun to cry again and Peridot immediately resulted to hugging the taller girl. Peridot began crying again and Lapis tightened the hug, pulling Peridot even closer. They'd spent so much time sitting like this that it wasn't too unusual for them to be gripping to each other tightly. 

The torture of being unable to exist properly was slowly killing them inside, and it hurt more than anything to see the one you love slowly deteriorate. The saddest part of it was the fact that they were dying together. Being together until the very end was exactly what the two wanted, as a matter of fact. But Peridot refused to believe it was the end and Lapis accepted it. That's what lead to their downfall.

"Lapis?" It had been a long day and Peridot wanted nothing more than to see Lapis. Her parents were out, so it was a perfect opportunity to go and see her as a surprise. So Peridot knocked on the door and it opened upon her first knock. She raised an eyebrow and walked inside. 

Lapis' parents weren't there, of course. But neither was she. The house seemed... Empty. Lapis had to be here, though. She couldn't be anywhere else. She never went out alone. Peridot wouldn't allow it. Gradually, the panic settled in and Peridot had to go search the house for Lapis. She searched and searched, and she couldn't find her. There was only one more place where Lapis could be, and that was the bathroom. Colour drained from her face, Peridot trudged towards the shut door.

She tried the door knob, and it didn't give way. So she knocked. "Lapis?"

From inside, she heard the soft sob. The soft sob she never wanted to hear again, but always knew she would. The sound of crying. She narrowed her eyes, a pained expression on her face. "Lapis, open up."

She heard the sobs grow louder. She knew, absolutely knew that this was not a good thing, and nothing good was happening in there. She leant on the door, trying the knob once again. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes and she gave another try at reasoning with her. "Lapis, please, just open the door for me."

On the inside of the room, Lapis Lazuli was sprawled on the tile floor, her own sobs echoing around her. She was in a lot of pain. A knife was flung across the bathroom, sat on the opposite end of the room. It was merely a sign of Lapis' torture. Something there screaming "I just can't do it." The cuts stung like a nettle. Painful and prominent, degrading Lapis to less than nothing, a level she didn't think she could even surpass. It hurt, to say the least.

They weren't even the only things that hurt. Her stomach hurt, her face hurt, everything hurt. Being hit by several kids and called a 'fag' would hurt. Having insults such as "Your poor little pretty face will be gone forever after this, faggot" thrown at her hurt more than anything. Actions hurt, words hurt, everything hurt, and Lapis just wanted them all to go away, but she couldn't do it. No matter how hard she would try, she just couldn't. 

And at this point, Peridot was more than just worried. She was scared. She was frightened. "Lapis, open the door now."

Once she didn't get a response, she resulted to forcing the door open, slamming into it with all her force. It didn't work too well, which wasn't surprising. She wasn't the strongest person. Trying with all her might was hard and didn't get her very far. "Lapis, just open the door! I don't want to do this!" 

She still didn't get a response, so she decided it was the final straw. She hit the door one last time and it finally gave way, Peridot nearly falling over, struggling to regain her balance. After her head cleared, she immediately saw Lapis and dropped to the floor, grabbing her. Lapis was wailing at this point, trying to hide herself in fear of looking awful and inadequate. Peridot sobbed, grabbing her as tightly as she could. She quickly let go to examine Lapis, to make sure she was fine.

Finding out that she wasn't fine made her stomach drop. Seeing her face, her arm and all the pain she was in made Peridot sick. "Lapis. Listen to me. I'm going to help you."

She stared into the frightened girl's eyes, a gentle grip on her shoulders. Lapis seemed to calm down slightly, so Peridot immediately got to work, grabbing a flannel and wetting it. She dabbed the cuts on Lapis' arm, stopping every time she made a pained sound. Gently, she cleaned the cuts. "Lapis, don't go anywhere. I'm going to get you a bandage-- or some plasters, at least." She ran off to search for them, coming back moments later with a first aid kit clutched to her chest.

Opening it, she searched for a bandage and proceeded to quickly wrap the one she found around Lapis' arm. Once it was neatly bandaged, Peridot grabbed Lapis again, staring into her eyes once more. "Who did this? Who hurt you?"

Lapis seemed to get more distant and upset the more time went on. She mumbled an answer. "It doesn't matter..."

Peridot's eyes narrowed. "It does. I don't want you to ever get hurt again. I can't let you ever get hurt again. Please," She gave Lapis a quick kiss on the nose, "Be more careful."

Lapis nodded, giving a small smile in response. Peridot wrapped her in another embrace, being careful to not hurt the taller girl. She mumbled something into her shoulder. "I never thought you'd be the one to be beaten up. I always thought it would be me."

"I couldn't let it be you. I'd rather be beaten up than let you get beaten up." Lapis mumbled back weakly.

"I'd rather have neither of us beaten up. It'd stupid. All we can do is keep going, after all." Peridot replied, smiling. She parted the hug, taking a moment to look at Lapis' face. "I think this will go away once we get to college. New rules, new people, new place... Nothing will be the same. There's no point to hate crimes in college. People must have better things to do."

Lapis nodded firmly. "I hope it does stop. I never want this to happen again. I'm sick of being beaten up, stared at, and... I just don't want that anymore." 

"It won't. Don't worry about it. And don't do this again, please. I care about you, and I couldn't live with myself if you're doing this... I love you, Lapis." Peridot mumbled.

"I love you too, Peridot."

"You won't let this happen again?"

"Never."

"Good."

With those last words, Peridot stood up and helped Lapis up. With one last glance at the knife in the corner of the room, they stood up and left for a better life. It could get better. It will get better. It was going to get better.

It did get better.


	5. A Stab Ain't so Bad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot takes one for Lapis. And nearly dies in the process of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somebody asked for this and I always deliver.  
> Sorry that this took ages!!! I have plans for the next one so don't worry about it; I'll try to speed up my working pace >:V  
> Hope this is up to satisfaction. Thanks!

Lapis and Peridot laughed and giggled. On the way home from school, they were both off to Peridot's house. Little did they know of the tragedy that would soon befall them. Peridot was being her general shy and grumpy self as Lapis joked around, nudging her with her elbow to get a reaction from the other girl.

"Come on, Peridot. It was just a prank." Lapis laughed.

Earlier, Lapis and a couple of friends had pranked Peridot. And by pranked, they meant scared the living crap out of her. They'd emptied out Peridot's locker corridor and hid in a classroom. The blinds had been pulled and the lights turned off in the corridor, and as Peridot had walked past, they had jumped out at her. Peridot had screamed and somehow found herself firmly attached to Lapis for the rest of lunch.

Lapis and the others had laughed a lot. Peridot... not so much. "That's your idea of a prank? You scared me so bad!" She elbowed Lapis hard and Lapis started laughing again.

"Ow, come on. It wasn't that bad. You only clung to me for the rest of lunch." Lapis continued, smiling slyly at her shorter companion.

"Shut up, Lapis! I don't want to hear about that!" Peridot hissed, turning away to hide her flushed face. 

"I don't mind, you can cling to me whenever. I find it flattering that you chose to cling to me rather than anybody else. Really." Lapis smiled, holding her hand over her chest in a sign of... Achievement?

Peridot grumbled loudly at this,covering her face yet again to hide the blatant embarrassment. "I didn't mean to cling. I did it reflexively. Ugh, stop talking about it. I don't care that it was a prank, you scared the absolute crap out of me." She uncovered her face to shoot a hostile glare at Lapis, who merely smiled back brightly, causing Peridot to hide her face again.

Lapis laughed, continuing to walk. Peridot uncovered her face and returned to her general grouchy demeanor. It was quiet between them, no  words being exchanged as they walked quietly down the empty streets. Naturally, the streets used as shortcuts were empty. Nobody ever used them because nobody saw them as shortcuts. Peridot hated using the streets but she'd make an exception when she was with Lapis. She felt safe around her, a lot more safe than usual. Believing they had nothing to worry about, Peridot kept walking, perking up slightly. Never too fast as to out walk Lapis, but a little faster. She heard Lapis laugh quietly before her laughter stopped sharply.

There was one other person walking down the street. A man, clad in black. His face was rugged and he had a permanent frown. He looked scary and intimidating. He was coming towards them, probably just to walk past. Peridot felt her self confidence falter, and her pace dropped, Lapis proceeding to take the lead.

"There's nothing to worry about." Lapis whispered assuringly. Peridot wasn't sure. The man looked suspicious; she didn't trust him at all. 

She was right to not trust him, as he quickly came towards them. Peridot's eyes widened as she saw a flash of light. The sun on a blade, probably a knife. A man with a knife, coming towards them. Lapis had frozen and Peridot reflexively stepped in front of her crush as the knife came down in front of her. A jolt of sharp pain went through her body, and she didn't know what to think. She let out a scream that she couldn't hold in. It hurt so much. The man looked surprised too and Peridot fell to the floor in pain. Lapis had already taken action, shaking like mad as she tried to dial 911.

The man had already fled. It was too late to do anything about that, but the real worry was the stab wound. It hurt, just as a stab wound might be expected to. A sharp pain that penetrated Peridot's entire body, making her curl up in pain. Lapis had dropped to her knees as she spoke into her phone, but Peridot wasn't sure what to make of it. It hurt, and that was all that mattered at the moment. She was in a lot of pain. She let out a groan, hands firmly placed over the stab wound. She watched Lapis shake, and heard the sound of distant sirens. Smiling softly, she felt her consciousness slip away from her and she passed out.

She woke up with a jolt in a hospital bed attached to a blood transfusion. Lapis was sat in a chair next to the bed and she shot up straight, quickly falling back to the bed in pain. At least it wasn't as bad as it could be. She turned her head to Lapis, who looked like she had tears in her eyes.

Immediately, Lapis grabbed her and hugged her. Peridot grunted in shock and Lapis quickly returned to the chair in fear of hurting her. "Peridot, thank God you're okay. I was so scared you weren't going to make it, I was scared you were going to die, I didn't know what was going to happen, I... I'm so glad you're okay." Lapis spoke quickly in a desperate attempt to get all of her words out, taking a deep breath afterwards.

Peridot narrowed her eyes and smiled. "Of course I'm okay. I'm Peridot."

"The Peridot that walked into a knife. What were you thinking?!" Lapis asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I just... Wanted to protect you?" Peridot half stated, half asked.

"...Are you sure you're the same Peridot I spooked at lunch today? Usually it's me protecting you." Lapis laughed, smiling. Her face dropped to a more serious expression. "But seriously. You don't have to worry about me, Peridot."

"Yes I do. If I hadn't intervened, you'd have been mortally wounded." Peridot replied.

"Yes, and now you're mortally wounded. You nearly _died_ , Peridot. You know what that means, right? You almost stopped breathing. Your brain nearly stopped functioning. Your heart was about to stop beating. Do you know what I'd do if you died?" Lapis asked.

Peridot stared at the ceiling guiltily. "What would you have done?" 

"I'd have _cried_ , Peridot. Do you know how often I cry? I almost cried today, but you're alive, so I didn't have to. I'd have cried, and been really upset, and life would suck. I don't like life sucking very much, neither do I like life much without my home girl Peridot. So don't die, and don't sacrifice yourself for me in front of creepy guys who are probably in the mafia with knives and scarred faces." Lapis finished.

"You don't have to make a speech out of it. I did it by reflex, because I didn't want you to die. Do you want to die, Lapis?" Peridot mumbled, turning her head slightly.

"No... You know what? It would have been better if we had just gotten to your house without a creepy guy stabbing one of us and then... I dunno, made out or something." Lapis waved her hands around erratically as she constructed her daft story.

"What the hell's going through _your_  head?" Peridot asked, an estranged look on her face.

"That's the point. It's supposed to be unlikely. The creepy guy not stabbing us and just passing by with a smile is super unlikely." Lapis sighed wistfully.

"That's true. It's a pretty unlikely scenario."

Lapis huffed. "It's just like you to not get my joke."

"What joke? Lapis, I'm confined to a hospital bed and I was stabbed a few hours ago. I do not think I'm going to understand your stupid jokes." Peridot hissed.

Lapis huffed once again, but her tone suddenly softened. "Do you think you're going to have to testify for anything? It's a serious crime. That guy just came up and stabbed you like he's been in prison 200 times before. It's scary."

"No, Lapis. I don't think I'll have to testify. Either of us. It doesn't matter. I don't want to get involved in it. I just want to recover and not die. Sound good to you?" She asked.

"...Yeah. Okay. I just don't want this to happen again."

"And it won't. Most stabbings are a one time thing. I didn't know the guy and he didn't know me. I just might... Attract a lot of attention. At school. Because... That shit's gotta go on the news." Peridot replied, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Hey, you know when I'm gonna get discharged?"

"I... Don't know. How long do people stay in hospital for if they have stab wounds?" 

"I don't know. The doc didn't say much."

"...You got stabbed, Peridot. They had to sew you back together. Can you believe it? You have stitches now. That's gonna scar. It's gonna be so ugly." Lapis muttered, hiding her face.

"No one's ever gonna see it. It was around my stomach. I'll be fine." Peridot mumbled, turning away from Lapis.

"Are you sure about that, Peridot?" Lapis waggled her eyebrows suggestively once Peridot turned her gaze back to face her. Peridot let out a loud, annoyed sigh. "What? You don't want a life?"

Lapis raised a brow with a smile on her face and Peridot rolled her eyes. "It's not about life, Lapis. I don't care if I have a scar. Most people would look past that and see what's inside. A lot of people would sympathise. You're already sympathising. You've been doing it for like, an hour now."

Lapis lowered the brow and gave a gentle, warm smile. "You'll have to show me your scar some time. I'm sure it looks cool."

"Just like you to want to see me with my shirt off." Peridot chuckled, this time being her turn to waggle her brows suggestively. "It's right up here, you know." She patted the area of the stab and immediately regretted it. "That feels weird."

"I'm sure you can make an exception." Lapis giggled, leaning forwards slightly. "I know you won't mind. You're never bothered by anything."

"Get your face out of my face, freckles." Peridot laughed, pushing Lapis away.

Lapis continued to giggle, touching her own face with her hands. "Don't talk about my freckles in such an insulting manner."

"I love your freckles, really. Every single one of them. They're cute." Peridot replied with a smile, poking a single freckle, making Lapis giggle more.

She brushed the hand away with a smile. "Thanks. I go out a lot. That's how I get freckles. Unlike you." Lapis said with a mocking tone.

"It'd be pointless anyway, with my skin tone. I don't need freckles." Peridot huffed.

"Oh, come on. You're exaggerating, your skin tone isn't even that dark. If Morgan Freeman has freckles, so can you. You could definitely get freckles. Look-- You have like, two on your face. Two whole freckles. There's still hope for you." Lapis responded, crossing her arms.

"You can be the pale one with the freckles, Lazuli."

"If you say so, Blondie. Suit yourself." Lapis huffed, brushing some of her blue locks out of her eyes.

Peridot watched a moment before saying anything. "At least my hair isn't electric blue. I can already see your ginger roots coming through."

"Aw, shit." Lapis puffed, feeling through her hair. "I need to redye. Thanks."

"Gingers are cute. You should keep it ginger. You can be... A ginger freckled fiend." Peridot responded, patting Lapis' hair with her hand, quivering slightly.

"...Maybe. If you want to see me ginger, I guess I kinda owe you. I mean, I am the reason you're confined to a hospital bed." Lapis puffed. "Being ginger isn't _that_  bad." She gave a small, shy smile.

"I'm sure you look adorable when you're ginger, Lapis. You're usually adorable no matter what, so it shouldn't matter." Peridot replied, giving a bigger smile.

"Gee, you really flatter me. Thanks. I appreciate that you like gingers." Lapis chuckled. "Most people aren't too fond of us. God knows why."

"Pale ginger people with freckles. The combination is literally the best thing ever." Peridot shuffled up into what was nearly a sitting position and held out her arms for a hug, which Lapis responded to nearly immediately. "You're a cutie, Lazuli."

"So are you, Peridot. Get well soon. Or else you might miss out on--" Lapis indicated to her own hair. "This."

"Wouldn't miss it. Promise you'll stay a little longer though, right? I'm kinda- Kinda scared to be here on my own." Peridot mumbled.

"Of course I can stay." She ruffled Peridot's hair. "Because I love you, and you love me, right?"

Peridot blushed deep red, chuckling awkwardly. "Yeah. Yeah, I sure do..."

Lapis giggled in return. "Yeah. Me too."

"...Just so we're on the same level here, were you just confessing or-?" Peridot asked, feeling even more anxious and awkward by the second.

"Confessing." Lapis replied.

"Ah. Okay, good. I thought so. Just wanted to, uh, make sure. You know?"

Lapis nodded slowly. "Yep. So, was that a... a yes, you like me or am I getting confused too?"

Peridot laughed. "Yes, Lazuli, I like you."

"That's good. That was the answer I was looking for." Lapis replied with a broad smile. "I'm glad we set that straight."

Peridot nodded, silent for a moment. "Me too. Although it wasn't exactly straight, if you know what I mean."

Lapis chuckled momentarily until falling quiet. There was a few more moments of silence until Lapis finally spoke up again. "Once you get discharged, let's go out and do something nice."

"Yes." Peridot replied, grinning wide. "I'd love that."


	6. Plant-sitting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plant-sitting was boring until a very odd woman with a dog bite showed up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY so if you've ever watched Orange Is the New Black then you might recognize this scene because it IS directly inspired from such netflix series. It was a nice scene and it just clicked to write a Lapidot version so. ALSO I'm English but sometimes I accidentally use the American lingo so I'm sorry if a couch slipped through somewhere
> 
> ALSO ALSO I'm sorry if some of these are coming out really slowly??? I'm a lazy bean but I am trying hard :V

Plant-sitting wasn't awfully fun. Being an adult was, though. Peridot could just sit back and watch TV with a bag of pretzels in her lap. Plants weren't all that hard to take care of, after all. All you had to do was water them when they got dry and give them lots of sunlight. Peridot crossed her arms and leant back on the sofa. Using neighbors cable was fun. Eating their pretzels and ordering Chinese was also fun. If this was what plant-sitting had to offer, well... Maybe it wasn't so bad. 

She heard the sound of a door opening and shot up straight, immediately turning towards the door to see a rather pale, freckled woman with blue hair and blue eyes. Peridot wasn't sure if she was naturally pale or if some shit had just gone down with her, but she looked a little... Off. Apart from the fact that she had literally just walked into Peridot's neighbor's house without warning. Not something that happens every day, to be honest. It certainly piqued Peridot's curiosity, however.

"Um... Can I help you?" She asked from the couch, a brow raised in concern.

The pale woman glanced over at her with wide and surprised eyes. "Sorry. This is my friend's house and... I was in the neighborhood. So I decided to stop by."

"Well, I'm, uh... I'm Peridot. I'm her neighbor. I'm plant-sitting for her while she's gone, so..." Peridot replied, biting her lip.

"I'm Lapis." The woman replied. "I'm... just a friend, as I said."

"What brings you here?" Peridot asked.

"I was in the area. Also, a dog bit me." Lapis stated in reply, indicating to a bite on her leg.

Peridot lept up from the couch. "Shit, really? That looks..." She hissed through her teeth. "Nasty. You need some medical attention. I- I'll look in the bathroom for something?" 

"Yeah- Okay. Well, just letting you know, I'm gonna take off my trousers." Lapis replied, sitting down and dragging off the leggings.

Immediately, Peridot raised a brow, but quickly nodded. "Okay, okay. Right. Okay." She walked into the bathroom, searching through the medicine cupboard. "So, how did you get bitten by this dog anyway?"

"Some rabid dog just... Bit me. It's not like I did anything to anger it. I swear, it has like... Rabies or something."

Peridot narrowed her eyes in concern, popping her head through the door to look at Lapis who had, by now, gotten rid of her leggings. "Do you have rabies? You gotta check, if you think you got rabies. It can't be cured, you know. You experiencing any rabies symptoms?"

"No... Ok, no rabies. I'm good. God, this hurts, you know." Lapis muttered.

Peridot ducked back into the bathroom and continued searching for something to use. "Hey, would a towel do for now? Also, hold your leg up. It's bad if you don't keep it elevated or else blood rushes to it."

"Bring me the towel. Hell, bring me anything as long as it stops me from bleeding. Actually, I might take a shower if you don't mind." Lapis muttered, raising up her leg.

"Oh... Uh, yeah. You can take a shower if you want. Just make sure you get a towel on that bite when you get out." Peridot slid back into the living room and sat down as she watched Lapis stand up to go to the bathroom. She tried not to look.

"I'll be fine, thanks." Lapis muttered as she shut the door, locking it behind her. "Showers aren't rocket science."

"Yeah, but you want to rinse the bite carefully or else. You know, it might sting a lot. Stinging is pretty bad." Peridot put her pretzels back on her lap as she waited for Lapis to deliver a reply, continuing to watch the TV.

"I'll survive." Lapis replied. "Hey, why are you even sat in your neighbor's house watching TV, anyway?"

"I was gonna go out," Peridot began, "But a show came on and wow, gravity sure was effective in making me sit down with a bowl of pretzels. Besides, I'm plant-sitting."

"Plant-sitting is easy." Lapis mumbled, her voice muffled by the sounds of a shower.

Peridot was quiet for a moment until something came into her head. "I'm ordering Chinese. Are you hungry? I'll get you something, if you want it."

"Oh really? I'll have what you're having, in that case." Lapis called back.

Peridot nodded. "Okay. You have a nice shower, in that case."

Peridot finally shut up. This was really weird. There was a girl in her neighbor's house who was showering in the bathroom next to her. And she was most definitely naked, unless she showered with her clothes on. She also happened to have a dog bite and was incredibly friendly. Plant-sitting on her own suddenly seemed like the most exciting thing Peridot had every experienced. Ever. She shoved a pretzel into her mouth and munched it decisively before ordering her Chinese. Today was a weird day.

"Shit!" Peridot jumped as she heard Lapis yell from inside the bathroom. "Forgot the damn towel!"

"Uh... Do you want me to hand one in?" Peridot asked, standing up.

"Yeah, okay. Just... Don't look." Lapis replied.

Peridot swallowed heavy and picked up the towel, opening the door and shoving it through. She felt it get taken away and retracted her arm, shutting the door. Her face was as red as a very awkward tomato.

She then heard a relieved sigh from the other side of the door and sank back to the sofa, feeling like hitting herself. How stupid was she? Should have given her a towel before she went in. She quietly grumbled, fuming silently as she flicked through channels on TV. That's what she got for having terrible social anxiety. You don't see the logic in stuff and you forget. Everything in your head turns into slush and you don't know what you're doing.

At least, that's how Peridot felt. She felt stupid. Taking a deep breath, she propped the bowl of pretzels back on her lap and smiled graciously. At least nothing else would happen...

The bathroom door opened and a wet-haired Lapis walked through, drying it gently with a towel. Peridot decided she was too perfect and too cute for her. She also wasn't bleeding any more, unsurprisingly. Now that the bite was washed, it wouldn't get infected.

"Hi." Peridot said lamely.

"Hi," Lapis replied, "Hey- do you think I need to put a dressing on this or whatever?"

Peridot hesitated before responding. "That would probably be a good idea. Do you want me to find you a bandage and... A new pair of trousers?""

Lapis nodded. "Yeah, Pearl won't mind if I borrow her clothing." She giggles a little, presumably amused at the thought of wearing her friend's clothing. Peridot just nods in reply and goes off to scour for a first aid kit.

She finds one quickly. Good to know some people still kept organised. Returning to Lapis, she extracts the bandage from the depths of the box and wraps it around the bite generously. "That should keep you good for a while. Make sure that you wash it again or something. Maybe see a medical professional. You don't want to get your legs cut off."

"Your advice is appreciated, but I'm not going to the doctor any time soon for this." She indicates to the bandage and her leg. Peridot raises a brow. "It's not worth it."

Peridot gives a shrug. "Okay. I'm gonna find you some trousers now, anyway. Don't kill yourself in the mean time. And if the doorbell rings, it's the Chinese."

"Yeah. And I'll just answer the door with no trousers." Lapis muttered sarcastically.

Peridot rolled her eyes and stood up, wandering upstairs and into her neighbour's bedroom. It was cozy. A cozy bedroom. Peridot's was kind of the opposite. It was messy and disorganised and gross. She was gross. Quickly, she pushed these thoughts to the back of her mind and proceeded to rummage around, quickly finding a pair of sweatpants. Nice.

She quickly took them downstairs. The doorbell rang. She threw the sweatpants at Lapis and ran to answer it. She'd paid by credit card, so all she had to do was take a single bag and be gone with it. She trotted into the living room to see a now fully-clothed Lapis. Thank God for that. She wasn't sure how long she could stand it for.

She sat down on the sofa with a light smile, placing the bag in front of then. Peridot had a sudden thought. "You're not a vegetarian, are you?"

"If I was a vegetarian, I would have told you to order something in specific. Besides, Chinese and vegetarians don't go too well together most of the time." Lapis replied.

"That's not true. There's loads of vegetarian options." Peridot retorted, her eyes narrowing.

"Well. Being a vegetarian is always a nice thought, I guess. I don't think I'm cut out for it though. Maybe in the future." Lapis shrugs. "So, what is it you got?"

"Sweet and sour chicken. It's like... My all time favourite..." She gives an awkward chuckle and Lapis nods.

"So... Did you get prawn crackers?"

"Free prawn crackers."

Lapis' eyes go wide and she grabs the bag, searching for the prawn crackers like a ravenous beast. "I love prawn crackers. And sweet and sour sauce. It's literally the best combination." She takes out the sweet and sour sauce, too. The last thing to be removed is the bag of chicken. Peridot laughs quietly.

"I'm glad I got something you like, then?" She half asked, half stated.

"Oh. Yeah, sweet and sour chicken is good too. Hey, does Pearl have any drinks?" Lapis asked.

Peridot nodded. "Check the fridge. There's stuff in there."

Lapis stood up to take herself into Pearl's kitchen. Peridot started eating her food and jumped when she heard Lapis exclaiming from the kitchen.

"Hell yes!"

This left Peridot frazzled and confused. Very, very confused...?

"What's up?" She called.

Lapis reemerged back into the living room with something behind her back Peridot could not identify. She had a small and innocent smile on her face. Peridot was suspicious. "Nothing." Lapis mumbled, sidling back to her seat.

Peridot stared for a few seconds. "Is that a can of beer."

Lapis' expression dropped. "It's just one can. Get that stick out of your ass, Peridot."

"Isn't it like, way too early to be drinking?' Peridot asked, her expression still filled with suspicion.

"One, it's like, 5. Two, there's no specific time for people to be able to drink." Lapis replied, her eyes narrowed. "So, Periwhat, your point is invalid."

"Uhuh. How old are you?"

"I'm 24. What's it to you?"

She was one year older than Peridot. Incredible. "You act like you're 4. I'm younger than you, but I'm still more mature."

"I can be mature when I want to be." Lapis barked in response. "I just don't feel like it today. Cut me some slack. Need I remind you that I was viciously bitten by a ravenous dog?" She clenched her fist in front of her chest, shutting her eyes for extra drama points.

Peridot sighed. "Whatever. Indulge in your beer or whatever."

"Wow, thanks for the special permission, Peridot." Lapis replies sarcastically, cracking open the can. She smiled nonetheless, so Peridot smiled back. She quickly felt herself heat up and went back to eating her food.

Lapis was polite and respectful when it came to table manners, much to Peridot's surprise. She wasn't a messy eater unlike Peridot. It was hard to be neat and careful. I mean, it was Chinese. Who eats Chinese neatly and carefully? Very, very few people. Lapis was on the borderline. Peridot could dig that.

She was already digging it. She had been digging it for the past hour and a half.

Needless to say, her big gay woman crush that had formed within hours of knowing this woman was big and embarrassing.

Way too embarrassing for Peridot to comprehend. She hated it with a passion. She hated it like she hated raspberries. Raspberries were terrible berries. They tasted gross. Peridot felt like hiding her face in her hands, but just about restrained herself. That'd make her look stupid.

After a while, the two finished up eating after talking for a little while. Peridot learnt that Lapis was fond of swimming and that she was born in September, on the 20th. Peridot was born on the 14th of August, so she told her that. Peridot ended up gushing about technology for a little while. Lapis laughed at this and proceeded to take a minute to talk about some other things she liked. Art... She showed Peridot a picture of one of her drawings. It was amazing, to say the least. According to her extensive knowledge on all things marine, she also liked marine biology?

She was very strange and Peridot liked that. A lot. Peridot was a nerd and Lapis seemed to be enjoying listening to her go on about one of her TV shows. They bonded over one TV show they both enjoyed. It was a pleasant evening and with each word they said they grew closer. Lapis Lazuli was probably the nicest person Peridot had ever met.

Maybe if she was lucky, she'd get her phone number.

And lucky she was. Once they had finished eating, Peridot threw all the trash in the bin and Lapis seemed to be glowing. Maybe Peridot did exaggerate over the can of beer, now that she thought about it.

"It was nice to meet you, Peridot. But I think I should probably get back home." She smiled guiltily and rubbed the back of her neck. "It has been a long time."

Peridot nodded, chuckling awkwardly. "See you around, I guess...?"

Lapis smiled and Peridot smiled back. It seemed that something had just occurred to her, because her expression lit up even more like she had an idea. She grabbed a pen and some loose paper. "Actually, I'll give you my number."

In turn, Peridot's face lit up too. She was getting a cute person's number. What???  
"Okay, thanks." She tried to play it cool.

"Text me or something." Lapis replied with a shrug, handing over the paper.

Peridot couldn't contain the big smile erupting on her face, so she nodded. "Thanks." She repeated lamely.

"Well..." Lapis twiddled her fingers for a moment. "Thanks for today. I hope I can pay you back for it soon."

She quickly jogs out of the room and out of the front door. Peridot merely called after her, "You're welcome!"


	7. I'm Not Plant-sitting This Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot doesn't know what else she can do, so she goes ahead and texts Lapis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a continuation of the last chapter! I wrote it in one day because my FUNKY FLOW was really undisturbed.  
> I hope you like it!  
> Also, I'm going to start another Lapidot story so stay tuned to my works if you wanna read that and stuff :V

Peridot stared at her phone for an incredibly long time. It was crazy how long she could stare down at her phone for. Her finger was poised over the "send" button, but she wasn't sure if she could do it. Feeling like a wimp, she threw her phone on to the sofa next to her, letting out an exasperated sigh. Damn Lapis. Peridot felt like deflating on her sofa but... She wasn't actually a balloon. Instead, she picked up her phone again and read the text she had prepared over.

_'hey lapis! it's me, peridot. you said to text you so... here i am! texting you!'_

She let out a loud growl and deleted the entire text. She was so stupid. Typing again, Peridot rewrote something totally different.

_'yo lapis it's me peridot from the other day! decided to text you cuz i'm not on my super cool motorbike or anything today haha B)'_

Now she just sounded like a fuckboy. Actually, Peridot was pretty sure she was just making fun of herself at this point. "Fuck my terrible humor!" She yelled aloud, looking up to the ceiling.

After a moment, she deleted the text again. Third time's the charm... She'd make this one the _best_  and _most casual_ text ever. This was it.

_'hey lapis, it's me peridot. it was nice to meet you yesterday!'_  

Before she could start regretting her life choices, she hit the send button and immediately felt a large bout of anxiety sink to the bottom of her stomach.

She hid her face behind her hands, screaming quietly. Didn't want to disturb the neighbors. Speaking of neighbors, maybe she should ask Pearl about Lapis, since she did return from her trip thing or whatever it was. Lapis was her friend, after all. But Peridot wasn't necessarily friends with Pearl... Just acquaintances. It'd be weird if she was to ask her acquaintance about dating tips for her friend. She decided to just wait. She peeked out through her fingers at her phone and saw a little "online" symbol next to Lapis' name. And looking at her text, underneath it in tiny letters, "seen". Peridot let out yet another groan, hoping that she didn't look stupid.

Removing her hands from her face, she grabbed her phone again just as a text popped up. Her eyes went wide and she held the screen close to her face, reading the text at extreme speed. 

_'Hey Peridot! Thanks for yesterday! I was hoping you'd text me sooner tbh ;) haha'_

Peridot's expression intensified into pure determination once she saw the wink. She grinned. What did it mean? A wink? That's a way of signifying a joke, or... Signifying affection. _Affection_. Well shit. Was Lapis doing the affection thing? That wasn't it, right? ...Haha.

_'it was nothing! you had a dog bite it's only mandatory i helped you out haha''_

Peridot had to play it cool. That was the only way she was getting through this. If she was lucky they'd get chummy pretty fast and maybe they could go out for a coffee or something. Or maybe an actual... _date_. Did coffee qualify as a date? Probably. It would be a date as long as the word date is mentioned. Did she need to say the word date? How the heck does one ask somebody out on a date.

_'You really didn't have to! I'm glad you did, though. Our talk was nice.'_

It was now or never. Peridot had to ask her out. She began  to type, reading the words aloud to herself.

"Hey Lapis, would you maybe like to have a coffee with me or something? Whatever you like, you know." Her finger hovered over the send button briefly. She added a few more words. "And send!" She hit the button.

_'Hey Lapis would you maybe like to have a coffee with me or something? Whatever you like, you know. it's cool if your busy or something haha'_

She pursed her lips, avoiding the feeling of regret that was about to hit her like a brick wall. She didn't do a very good job, because she immediately felt sick and felt like taking everything back. Chewing on her lip, her fingers trembled as she tried to write something else to cover up her obvious want for a date. Well, she was a little late because Lapis had already posted a reply before she could write the second word. 

_'Yes! I'd love to! I'm not busy right now, I'm totally free. What coffee shop do you want to meet up at and at what time?'_

What.

She said yes. And now Peridot had to very quickly search the coffee shops available in town right now. Darn her ways of not planning ahead. She was terrible, really. Oh well. If Lapis wouldn't have her with her terrible planning skills, she didn't deserve her without her terrible planning skills.

Okay, so maybe she had a problem.

_'okay, maybe starbucks in 20 minutes' time?'_

She didn't want to be general, but she knew that town had a Starbucks. It definitely, _definitely_ did. Not because she was... A regular there, or anything. She wasn't. Only hipsters went to Starbucks. Lame.

_'Alright! Totally! I'll see you then.'_

Wow, that actually worked. _Nice work, Peridot._  

' _okay, cool!'_

Lapis really seemed like a different person through the screen. Or maybe it was because she hadn't been bitten by a dog today. That can really drastically change your personality, to be honest. It made a lot of sense if you thought about it.

Oh yeah, that was right. Peridot did have a "date" to get ready for. Was it a date? Whatever it was, she had to get ready or else she'd make a bad impression. She looked gross right now, considering she was merely in just a t-shirt and boxers. Dashing to her (messy) bedroom, she rummaged around for clean clothing. _What do normal people wear to coffee shops on dates._  

After a few moments of consulting Wikihow, Peridot knew what she was going to wear. She took off her glasses for a moment and located- Ah, yes. A sweater. The only sweater she owned. It was green. Well, she did have one other sweater, but... A shiver ran down her spine. It was a Christmas sweater. A really dumb one. The green one may be a Legend of Zelda sweater, but at least it wasn't... That Christmas sweater. It was a joke gift from a friend. _Damn Jasper._  

She threw the sweater on and some loose jeans (how do people even _wear_  skinny jeans?) and proceeded to look in the mirror.

Her hair was a mess. 

She spend the next five minutes flattening and fixing it, feeling like dying inside. She then spent a few more minutes searching for her glasses after misplacing them and- Oh, she put them on her bed. Shoving the glasses on her face, she grabbed her phone and launched herself into her front hallway, putting on some shoes. Today happened to be Converse day. These were really expensive shoes. I mean, who makes shoes that cost 63 dollars? People weren't _made_  of money.

She tied the laces again. Double-knotting wasn't a nerdy thing to do, right? Laces coming undone was super un-cool and annoying. Lapis would probably appreciate that. Realizing how short of time she was, Peridot flung open her front door and started a jog into town. She was actually pretty close to town, so she was good. She slowed down her pace. Didn't want to start sweating or anything.

And then she was outside Starbucks idly waiting for Lapis to show up. And she did, while Peridot was checking her phone and _God_  did Lapis look cute. She was wearing a nice blue summer dress. Peridot felt a little awkward in her jeans and triforce sweater. But Lapis was smiling at her. This reassured her... Kind of.

"Hey Peridot! I didn't keep you waiting for long, did I?" Lapis asked once she reached her.

"Uh, nope. I just got here like... 30 seconds ago ha." Peridot replied awkwardly with a chuckle.

"Thank God." Lapis mumbles with a (cute) laugh. "That'd make a bad impression."

Peridot's face was already a deep shade of red, so she sidled into Starbucks. "Let's go get some coffee or whatever."

Lapis giggled. "You seem insistent."

Peridot shrugged. "It's cold and stuff..." They both walked up to the counter. "Whaddya want? It's on me."

Lapis placed her hands on her hips. "I owe you. Do you want me to owe you more?"

Peridot's eyes went wide because, damn, _it wasn't a date if Lapis payed._  At least, that was what people said. She held up her hands. "No, no, it's fine! You've done your part I mean you actually came out that's really enough."

"...I want a caramel frappachino." Lapis huffed, crossing her arms and turning away.

"Okay, thanks. Go take a seat." Lapis walked off and took a sat at one of the tables. Peridot smiled and turned her attention to the bored looking boy across the counter. He seemed to have been watching their little squabble, as if it was the most exciting part of his day.

"I feel you man, girlfriend problems." He offered with a sigh, straightening up. Peridot flushed.

"Oh- Um, she's not my..." Peridot pursed her lips. "One caramel frappachino and one caffe mocha." The boy stared at her for a moment and she remembered. "Both large."

He went back to his work and nodded. Peridot was smart enough to know what this added up to and pushed an adequate amount of money across the counter to the boy. He handed over a receipt and change. "Good luck." he muttered as Peridot went over to where she'd collect their drinks.

After a minute or two, her drinks were pushed over to her. She turned around to look at the occupants of Starbucks. it seemed relatively empty apart from a few people here and there. She quickly spotted Lapis with a guy Peridot didn't recognize leaning on the table. She scooted over there.

"...If you just listened to what I'm saying, babe-"

Lapis seemed very uncomfortable. "Don't call me that. Stop talking to me, please..."

Peridot immediately launched into attack mode. She nudged the guy. "Hey, pal, do you want to go sit somewhere else? You're really bothering her."

Lapis looked relieved at her entrance. The guy looked... rustled. "Hey, I'm just talking-"

Peridot smiled at him sweetly. "She's not interested."

"Y-yeah, um... That's my girlfriend." Lapis said, giving her input. Peridot stared at her and Lapis shrugged. Peridot decided she'd curse later.

The guy hustled off, mumbling something like, "Weird gay chicks... Always hot,  but you can't have 'em."

"Hey!" Peridot yelled after him, setting the drinks down on the table. "Being gay is cool so zip your homophobic mouth, chump!"

Admittedly, the guy was a lot bigger than Peridot. He could knock her out in one simple hit. Instead, he scampered away. Probably because he'd get arrested for assault if he did that. Peridot let out a heavy sigh and slumped onto a chair opposite Lapis, who had a weak smile on her face.

"Thanks for that, Peridot." 

"No problem. You know him?" Peridot asked.

"No. Just some random guy." Lapis shook her head, shivering. "Man, you need to stop being nice to me. I owe you so much!"

Peridot chuckled, a smile on her face. "It's no problem, really. You don't have to pay me back." _You can just be my girlfriend._  Keep yourself together, Peridot.

Lapis groaned. "Yes I do. That'd be unfair."

"Really. As I said, it's nice enough of you to actually come out." Peridot looked in a different direction and saw the boy behind the counter staring again. He mouthed something to her. 'I thought she wasn't your girlfriend.'

She mouthed back. 'She isn't.'

Lapis raised an eyebrow. "You got yourself a new friend?" She asked, glancing at the boy.

Peridot scratched the back of her neck, looking back at Lapis. "Haha, no. I just spoke to him... briefly." She puffed out her cheek and looked to the side.

"So! I was hoping to have another opportunity to speak to you in person," Lapis took a quick sip of her frappachino, "And I was a little frazzled yesterday, what with being bitten by a dog and all..."

Peridot shrugged. "It's no problem. You couldn't make that dog not bite you, or something." She sipped her mocha despite being already highly caffeinated. "I wanted to speak with you again too... anyway." 

Lapis shrugs. "Things happen when both people want them to happen." Peridot eyed Lapis suspiciously at that sentence. "That is to say, we both wanted to meet up, so it happened."

It was getting awkward so Peridot sipped her drink once again. "So, do you like Starbucks much?" 

"It's a little overrated. But I like their frappachinos." A chord struck in Peridot that made her flinch. _Overrated_. What a shitty choice for a first... date? Lapis quickly diffused the situation. "They're- They're not all that overrated though. Their drinks are pretty nice!"

Phew. "Yeah. They have good espressos and caffe mochas. I just... Really like coffee. And all things caffeinated." 

"That's something we have in common. Caffeine is like, my lifeblood. Haha." Lapis replied with a chuckle. 

Peridot let out a soft whistle before leaning back in her seat. "Yeah."

There was a moment's silence in which Peridot took a large sip of her drink again.  Lapis cleared it with an awkward question. "So... Are you gay?"  

Peridot nearly spat out the caffe mocha, only just keeping it contained in her mouth. She swallowed it and hit her chest, choking for a little while. How unattractive of her.

"Hey, hey! I'm sorry, it was a really personal question but you're kind of... making my gaydar ping." Lapis held up her hands and leaned over the table to help Peridot... Somehow. As if touching her would make her feel any better. That would make it _worse_.

Peridot let out a final choked cough before settling down, letting out a hefty sigh. She leaned on her arm, slouching over it. She looked in a different direction. "You must be a psychic. I'm gay as hell."

"I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not. If not, then my gaydar is a fucking legend." Lapis replied.

"No sarcasm here." Peridot huffed with a shrug. She let out another little cough, her throat still sore.

Lapis leaned back in her seat. "Wow. I guess gay people are very good at identifying people of their own kind." She gave Peridot a wink.

Peridot swore her heart stopped beating in that second.

"Own... kind?" Peridot's mind was literally screaming _date me_  and it was getting annoying.

"Yep. Own kind. You know, the one person who's really good at rainbow road." Lapis said.

"Are you really good at rainbow road?" Peridot asked, a brow raised.

"Yes. Like, really _really_ good at it. We should play Mario Kart some time." 

"I'm pretty good at rainbow road... But I still hate it the most." Peridot murmured, thinking.

Lapis waves her arms around. "We were the chosen gays."

"So... You're also gay." Peridot said. She laced her fingers together in front of her, staring Lapis down.

"Uh-huh. As gay as Ellen DeGeneres." 

"That's impossible." Peridot replies, narrowing her eyes. 

"Nuh-uh. I'm just really gay." Lapis huffed.

Peridot was quiet for a moment. "We're literally sat in Starbucks telling each other how gay we are." 

"That's true, Peridot." Lapis took a long sip from her frappachino. "It's good."

"Yeah okay. Why'd you ask in the first place?" Peridot cocked her head. All this time, she had to keep her coolest of cools. Lapis must be _totally_  into her. Hopefully? Maybe? Perhaps?

Beads of sweat had began to formulate on Peridot's brow. Lapis responded after a moment of thinking. She tapped her head as she said, "Gaydar."

Peridot let out a knowing hum, falling silent. "Hey, um-" She tripped up over her words. Oh no. 

"Yeah?" Lapis asked.

Fuck. If Peridot tried talking now, it'll all come out in stutters and stammers. She narrowed her eyes and gave a determined look. Stutters and stammers aside, now was a good time to ask Lapis to... be her girlfriend? What the hell did she even say? Think back to that Wikihow, Peridot... Lapis was staring at her with an intrigued look. That Wikihow article did not help in _any_  way! Lapis was looking really concerned now. _Fuck._  Time to get out with the stutter storm.

"U-uh... D-d-do you, um, th- maybe, _fuck_  m-maybe..." She took a deep breath. 

"Peridot, are you alright?" Lapis asked. She reached over the table and touched Peridot's hand. _Oh no this was bad._  

"Y-yeah! I ju-just... N-not very good at... um, at getting m-my point a-across." Peridot stammered.

"Gee Peridot, you're a stuttering mess..." Lapis whispered. She squeezed Peridot's hand. _Squeezing._

Peridot was red in the face. "Um... Do you want to be my, uh..." Lapis' eyes had gone wide at this point. Peridot was fairly certain she knew what was coming next. "G-g-g... gir- g..." The damn word just wouldn't get out of her mouth. Her eyes narrowed angrily and she spent the next few moments trying to force the word 'girlfriend' out of her mouth. "...girlfriend." 

Immediately she gave a relieved sigh and smiled brightly until she realized the rest of the sentence. _'Will you be my girlfriend.'_  Her eyes went wide, her face flushed and she stared at Lapis, waiting for a reply. Lapis was smiling.

"Hell yes." Lapis replied. She then hugged Peridot over the table. An awkward over-the-table hug with your brand-new girlfriend? Who you've only known for like, a day? But really clicks in all the right places? Plus she's really tall, and cute, and nice and _wow_. 

So that was a thing now. And Lapis had said yes. Peridot wondered what proposing would be like. _Terrible._ Well, you know. Stutters existed and Peridot couldn't do much about them. Just like she couldn't do much about her terrible, excruciatingly painful anxiety. At least Lapis was chill about it.

" _Wow_  I did not think you were going to say yes. Especially after that stutterathon. Sorry about that, by the way..." Peridot muttered.

"It's fine! Really! I was worried about you, I don't actually know anybody who stutters like that." Lapis replied with a guilty shrug.

Peridot shrugged back. "I deal with it." She looked over at the cashier boy. He was giving her a thumbs up. She narrowed her eyes and turned away. 

"Looks like you've got a supporter." Lapis laughed, glancing at the boy.

"What can I say, people like supporting really gay girls with their really gay crushes. I bet he has a bet with his co-worker or something. I bet they're betting if we're going to kiss now." Peridot hissed.

Lapis took a long sip of her frappachino before replying with a smile. "You wanna help somebody win a bet, Peridot?"

It took Peridot a moment to process what she meant, and when she did she lit up like a Christmas tree. "Oh."

Lapis' smile shrank a little. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

Peridot chewed the bottom of her lip. Well, her mouth tasted like coffee right now. "No. Just com over to this side of the table." She shuffled up, taking her drink with her. She quickly finished it off. It was going cold.

Lapis did the same quickly before coming around to Peridot's side. "Last chance to back out." Lapis muttered as she drew her face close to Peridot's.

"Not a chance." Peridot mumbled in response, quickly closing the space between their lips.

Lapis tasted like frappachino. She also tasted like a hint of... chlorine? Did she go swimming earlier? It was whatever. Peridot hadn't actually kissed anybody before, so she wasn't entirely sure what to do apart from... Yeah. Lips. She felt Lapis wrap her arms around her though, so she did that too. She also shut her eyes. Not screwing them shut, that'd hurt after a while. Just gently shut. Just like Lapis. All her movements were gentle. Slow, soft and careful. Peridot liked this. She liked Lapis.

Peridot tasted a lot like generic coffee and tic tacs. She ate tic tacs a lot. She was sloppy and... Not skilled. In the least. She didn't consult any Wikihow articles on how to kiss, so of course she was sloppy. It didn't repulse Lapis or anything. She was forgiving and willing to teach her. And teach she will.

Half way through their kiss, they heard somebody yell. "I win the bet! Suck on that, Jeff! 25 dollars for me!"

"Told you so." Peridot muttered into the kiss. She was shushed by Lapis who immediately went back into kissing.

The only thought processing in Peridot's head was that _wow this is a really long kiss are we making out or_  and it was hard to find an answer to her query. Usually if it was a make out there was tongue. There was no tongue as of yet.

And just as she thought such a thought, Lapis' tongue brushed across Peridot's lips. Peridot's eyes opened reflexively and _shit we're in a public place we can't do this_  was the first thing that hit Peridot. 

She drew herself back. Lapis looked disappointed. "Sorry. We're still out in public, you know."

Lapis let out an exasperated sigh, brushing her hand through her hair. "Yeah, I guess so. Sorry. Got lost in the kiss."

Peridot chuckled. "It's fine. I've never actually... Y'know, proper kissed somebody before." She laced her fingers together and looked away awkwardly. "This is a first."

Lapis ruffled Peridot's hair. "You dork. Text me some time and I'll come over to teach you how to kiss. _With_  tongue." She winked at Peridot and Peridot went red in the face for the hundredth time today. 

Lapis waved and walked out of the coffee shop. Peridot waved and watched as she left. As soon as Lapis was out the door, she let out a resounding laugh of satisfaction and excitement. _Oh boy this was going to be weird._


	8. Catch Some Waves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lapis and Peridot take some time to go surfing together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's kinda short, so I'm sorry about that.  
> Reminder that if you have requests, PLEASE ask me about them I kinda suck at coming up with ideas 50% of the time.

"Peridot, there's a wave to your left, go catch it--"

Peridot fell off of the surf board into the deep ocean, becoming entirely submerged in the water. She heard somebody laughing as she surfaced, grabbing out to cling to her girlfriend's borrowed surfboard. She stared at the guilty girl laughing at her.

"Lapis, stop laughing. You know I suck at surfing." Peridot huffed.

The pale girl was still belting out laughter, so Peridot paddled over to her, standing up once she was able to touch the ocean floor with her feet. Lapis was stood in the shallows, watching Peridot try to surf. It didn't last very long because Peridot was awful at surfing.

Peridot tried to think of an insult to say. Maybe insult her overuse of suncream due to her extremely sensitive pale skin and ginger hair. Gingers were prone to pale and sensitive skin. Peridot was surprised she was even a surfer at all.  Peridot decided to go with the suncream insult.

"I'm surprised you don't slip off your board with the incredible amount of suncream you're always wearing." Peridot yelled.

"Hey, not my fault I was born naturally pale. If it went my way, I'd be tan and have dark hair. But we don't all get what we want, do we?" Lapis replied, placing her hands on her hips. "I definitely didn't want a grumpy girlfriend who can't surf."

"And I didn't want an excitable girlfriend who can surf very well and shoves my face." Peridot shot back with a smile.

"Oh, come here, you!" Lapis shouted, running towards Peridot. Peridot's short legs didn't fare well running through the ocean, especially since that was more of Lapis' thing. Lapis nearly immediately caught Peridot, gripping tight onto the wet shirt she wore.

Peridot hated swim suits and Lapis preferred them unless it was the beach, which it was. "I've got sand in my swimsuit. You know what that means." She picked up Peridot after tightly wrapping her arms around her torso. "I'm mad!"

Peridot couldn't help but giggle hard as she was hoisted out of the ocean, flailing around a little. Lapis had a firm grip, however, and Peridot was as light as a feather. She was also a midget. Kicking out, she tried to loosen Lapis' grip, merely kicking around water in her peril. "Come on, Lapis! Let me go already!"

"You wish!" Lapis asked. But after a moment more of flailing, Lapis dropped Peridot into the ocean with a splash. Peridot quickly realised how messed up her hair was.

She tried to fix it, only messing it up more. "My hair is going to look awful for like, two weeks." She complained, standing up and splashing water at Lapis angrily. Lapis splashed back playfully, so Peridot splashed harder.

They continued and eventually it elevated into a splash fight, Lapis' surf board slowly floating away. Lapis noticed this eventually and swam out to grab it, getting onto it and deciding to show Peridot how surfing was really done. Peridot let out a sigh with a little smile. Lapis was such a showoff.

Lapis was insanely good at catching waves, surfing and being awesome. It was like she was making the wave move, doing it all with her own control on the ocean. She barely noticed the wave, adapting to every change and error that was made.

Peridot barely noticed the wave, too. She was busy looking at Lapis and checking her out. She was truly in her element and Peridot could tell how extremely in love she looked. The people around her probably took her as a fool by now. A love stricken fool, but a fool no less.

Lapis was very, very pretty. Her surfing was also pretty and so was the way she rode the wave. She made the worst things look like the best things ever until...

Lapis fell off of the surfboard and the ocean consumed her. She popped back up moments later with the surfboard. She laughed and so did Peridot. She made Peridot laugh all the time. A really great girlfriend if there ever was one. Paddling back over, her really great girlfriend gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, smiling brightly. It was soft and Peridot relished it, feeling her face redden.

She immediately began to play hard to get. "Lapis, we're in public!" She pushed Lapis backwards and Lapis stumbled, nearly falling back into the sea.

Lapis narrowed her eyes and smiled cheekily. "Nobody's looking at us. Come on, Peridot."

"Well-- Fine, bit it's not like I like you or anything." Peridot huffed.

Lapis stared for a long time. "Peridot, you're my girlfriend--"

"I was kidding." Peridot interrupted. She then gave Lapis a kiss on the lips that lasted a few seconds before backing off and covering her red face underneath her wet shirt.

"Aw, Peridot. You have a crush on me. That's adorable." Lapis replied, a sweet smile replacing the straight face.

"We've been together almost a year now." Peridot mumbled sourly.

"Still. Besides, you were pretending you didn't like me. You're so silly, Peridot." Lapis proceeded to ruffle Peridot's hair, resulting in a few loud grunts from Peridot herself.

She finally pulled Lapis' hand off of her hair, trying to fix it once again. It remained messy and stuck up in crazy places. Some of the places it was already sticking up in. Peridot lost hope for her hair and looked back up at Lapis.

"Tell me you love me." Peridot said, narrowing her eyes.

"I love you." Lapis replied without hesitation. 

A small smile emerged on Peridot's face. "I love you too."

Lapis smiled, holding back the urge to ruffle Peridot's hair. Instead, she held onto her surfboard and patted it for Peridot to come sit on it. Peridot did so and Lapis proceeded to sit down too. "You barely weigh anything so it's not going to sink."

Peridot couldn't help but cling to Lapis defensively. Lapis chuckled and began to row with her hands out into the ocean. "Are you sure we're not going to sink?" Peridot asked, muffling her voice in Lapis' back.

"Absolutely certain... Or am I?" Lapis wobbled the surfboard slightly and Peridot screamed. Lapis nearly jumped which would have really thrown them off of the surfboard. Lapis chuckled as she found her balance, keeping them on the surfboard. "Don't scream again! You scared me, and then we really would be in the ocean.

Lapis then began to stand up and Peridot's mouth dropped. "What are you doing? Are you trying to drown us?" She clung to Lapis' legs when she stood up fully. "Please sit back down Lapis, I don't want to die just yet!"

"What? You wanna propose first?" Lapis asked, looking down at the hands on her legs.

"Yes! Well, not yet... still, please sit back down Lapis. Please." Peridot whined, screwing her eyes shut.

"It's gonna be fine. People do this all the time." Lapis mumbled, turning her gaze ahead. She was a confident surfer and in no time at all they were riding the waves with Peridot having a small panic attack while Lapis focused on guiding thm through the waves. "Peridot, come on. Stand up and surf with me. Please?"

She heard a shaky mutter and soon enough felt arms wrapping tightly around her waist. Peridot did get up however, which was enough for her. "Don't get us killed." Peridot whispered.

"I won't. you can keep hugging me if you're really that nervous." Lapis giggled, smiling. She felt Peridot's hold tighten even more. "M-maybe not that hard."

Peridot's grip loosened again. "I swear if this surfboard tips over, I am breaking up with you."

"It won't. And I doubt you'll break up with me." Lapis rolled her eyes. And then a wave crashed into the surfboard and they were thrown off of it. She heard a loud shriek from Peridot and Peridot's grip turned into a death grip. Lapis grabbed the surfboard and her head broke the surface, shortly accompanied by Peridot, hyperventilating in frantic puffs. Her grip remained unbroken and Lapis had to pry Peridot's hands off of her, grabbing her hand to swim closer to shore.

She let go of the surfboard to let it float and then grabbed Peridot's face. "It's okay, Peridot. I'm here. Take deep breaths. We're okay."

Peridot brought her hands up to her mouth and breathed into them, trying to steady herself. Shortly her breathing returned to normal and she shut her eyes, letting out a loud sigh. "You promised you wouldn't let us fall."

"Yeah, and I'm really sorry." Lapis replied, gritting her teeth. "It was a mistake and I was distracted. Look, you're okay now. I got you."

Lapis pressed her lips to Peridot's. They both tasted like salty sea water, as expected. Drenched from head to toe, Lapis kissed Peridot for quite a while. It took Peridot by surprise, in all honesty, but she'd almost immediately accepted it. Lapis still had her hands on Peridot's face and used it to her advantage, pulling her slightly closer. She felt Peridot place her hands on her shoulders, probably to limit her slightly. They were still in public after all.

Peridot pulled back and so did Lapis. "Okay, that kiss was probably uncalled for but I feel bad." Lapis bit her lip, looking to the side to watch a wave crash against the shore.

Peridot was smiling, though. "It's fine. It was nice." Peridot replied, getting quiet towards the end.

Lapis smiled very smugly and kissed Peridot on the nose. "You're such a dork, Peridot. Let's get out of the ocean and go change, I'm getting cold now."

She grabbed her surfboard and ran out of the sea. Peridot followed behind, a small smile stuck on her face. "Lapis, wait up!" She broke into a run, racing after her girlfriend in her soaking wet clothing.


	9. It's Raining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot likes the rain and so does Lapis.  
> They end up bonding over this.

Peridot had learned to like the rain a lot. It was nice and calm and most of the time, gentle. She learnt to tolerate the downpours and the little drizzles that would softly patter her face. The rain would drown out the reality around her. It was nice, while it lasted.

Lapis liked the rain, too. And whenever it got too tedious for her, she could just divert it's direction. Rain was nice. Water was a sick reminder of her imprisonment but she liked it regardless. It made her feel at peace.

Both of them had the option to bond over this, but they steered clear of each other most of the time. Not entirely sure what to say or how to bond, they just decided not to bother. Steven wanted them to acknowledge each other, which they did, but they both had a hard time trying to talk. They had a lot of feelings to convey and most of the time they didn't exactly _want_  to convey those feelings.

It was hard for them.

And then it was raining again. 

Rain splashed softly onto Peridot's face and she crossed her legs.Water gently washed over her feet as she looked into the dark, gloomy sky. The droplets of rain fell and got heavier and heavier. After a while, she narrowed her eyes. She saw the rain coming down, but none of it actually hit her face or arms. It seemed to divert to the sides, completely missing her for some reason. The water was merely gently brushing against her tiptoes now, rather than all her feet. For some reason the water was acting up. It was a little disappointing for her. Did water usually do this? 

She took a moment to glance around and then she saw Lapis. She squinted at her and wow, Lapis had a cheeky grin on her face. She let out a puff and Lapis realized that she was spotted. The water immediately went back to normal, but maybe a little too much at once. Peridot was entirely doused in rainwater and a large wave crashed into her. She was sent down screaming and even from where she was, she could hear Lapis choking out laughter. Peridot lay on the beach, sodden and coated in sand, rain still pelting down on her while water brushed against her toes. She was dazed, to say the least.

Turning her head, she saw Lapis coming towards her through the blurriness in her vision. She made a quiet noise and watched Lapis flinch, as if she had some sort of hypersensitivity. This made Peridot giggle loudly, which may have looked odd. She had a small laughing fit on the beach as Lapis stood by and watched. To anybody nearby it would have seemed a strange sight. Peridot could understand that. 

Lapis leant down and shook Peridot gently and immediately, Peridot stopped laughing and stared at Lapis with wide, confused eyes. "Are you alright?" Lapis asked.

Peridot cleared her throat loudly before responding. "Yes. I'm fine." She sat up with a little help from Lapis and brushed off some sand from her uniform. She scooted back towards the sea and let the ocean wash over her feet again. Lapis decided to sit down next to her.

They stared at each other for a little while. The taller gem seemed a little reclusive and eventually glanced away, pulling her legs up to her chest. Peridot blinked and proceeded to look back at the ocean. "Do you still like the ocean?" 

Peridot looked at Lapis and Lapis looked back, her blue eyes shining in dull light, brows raised. She looked rather conflicted at the question and proceeded to look at the ocean to think about it for a moment. "I suppose, yeah. Although... After living in it for about a year, you get... Tired of it." She looked away from the ocean and at her feet, watching the small waves wash over them.

Peridot nodded in understanding, humming as she thought. "Water's nice. I never actually thought about it a lot." She mumbled.

"I think about it a lot," Lapis muttered, rain running down her cheeks, tinted dark blue in the cold. "I was made for the ocean, after all."

Peridot was quiet for a moment before narrowing her eyes. "Seriously?"

Lapis smiled in reply, letting out a soft laugh. "I guess in some ways."

"...What did you even think of Homeworld? From the very beginning?" Peridot questioned, looking up at Lapis with curiosity. She didn't learn much about society in Homeworld from that long ago. It was always nice to learn.

"I don't know. I just did what they told me to do. I didn't have much of an opinion, but I kinda... Knew I was a little different." Lapis proceeded to stare at her feet again, resting her head on her knees. She seemed a little... Out of it.

Rain covered Peridot's visor, so she wiped some away with her hand before replying to Lapis. "What do you mean by different?"

"You should know that Lapis Lazulis aren't very common gems. You know, in the aristocracy of things back in Homeworld... Yeah. I was one of the only ones in the sector, and one of the strongest ones too. You should know that; you've seen me in battle." Lapis answered. She quickly continued, "Fusion intrigued me. But I could never do it because there were no other Lapis Lazulis to fuse with." Her voice quickly turned into a mutter. "Malachite was the first fusion I've ever been in, and it was awful. I don't know why I ever wanted to fuse. It's awful. You just... completely lose yourself sometimes. And in other situations, you're still the only one there. It's nothing like I thought it would be."

Peridot stared at the ocean, formulating a response in her head. "Well, Garnet is a fusion and she seems happy almost all the time. I don't think you're right, Lazuli. Fusion has to be... Something both sides want to do. And if it's not, it'll end up terrible like you described. You and Jasper never had a connection apart from hate. There was no real relationship, and fusion _is_  a relationship. That's why you hated it so much. Because... I don't think you really experienced fusion." Peridot finished.

Lapis appeared slightly stunned by the response. She chewed the inside of her lip, thinking about it. Peridot glanced over at her to see her expression. It seemed... Contemplative? "I don't really know what to think. I hated it so much. I think... I think I'd like to experience real fusion at some point."

Peridot thought for a moment and then her face lit up. After a moment or two, her face proceeded to darken to a deep green and her eyes remained wide. "Well... I mean, we could... We could try, if you want..?"

Lapis turned to stare at Peridot, her cheeks now a very dark shade of blue. She shrugged it off casually. "Yeah, sure. If you're okay with that, I am too."

Lapis fiddled with her fingers awkwardly, looking to the side at the ocean. Peridot stood up, brushing all the sand off of her uniform. She trembled slightly and watched as Lapis stood up too, brushing the sand off of herself. Lapis seemed just as awkward as Peridot, which relieved her slightly. Peridot's voice came out in a quiet, barely audible mumble. "I haven't actually... Danced much before..."

"It's okay. I can lead, if you want. I mean, it might be better since you're..." She coughed. "Shorter." Peridot tried not to glare. "But, you know, I'm not that fussy..."

"I'd prefer if you lead." Peridot answered quickly. 

Lapis nodded firmly before holding out her hand. Peridot took it and Lapis hauled her forward. Peridot bit her lip. Lapis was a strong dancer and Peridot... Not so much. She had to watch her feet and was terrified the entire time. Lapis spun her and Peridot didn't see it coming. She tripped up over her own feet and her eyes widened as she began to fall. Almost immediately, Lapis caught her and the last thing Peridot heard was both their laughter, and then they turned into light and, for the very first time, fused.

Chrysocolla opened her eyes and stared at herself for a good few seconds. Her head hurt. There was a lot going on, and she wasn't sure... She wasn't sure if she was comfortable or not. A feeling inside her told her she was comfortable. "We did it." She murmured, eyes wide in astonishment. "We really did do it."

She immediately felt a bout of confidence and blinked. She stretched her arms out.She took a step forward and nearly tripped up, stumbling and managing to regain her balance quickly. Looking around, she saw a figure staring up at them. They'd been caught. 

Steven stood there, eyes wide and proceeded to point at them. "Giant woman!" He exclaimed. Chrysocolla wasn't entirely sure what to say or do. "It's... Not what it looks like." She mumbled in a hushed tone.

Steven was already prancing about with happiness and Chrysocolla was panicking internally. "I can't believe you guys fused! Wow!"

And then Chrysocolla split.

Lapis and Peridot tumbled onto the sandy beach, both their faces flushed. Peridot immediately sat up. "It was an accident!" 

The rain was still coming down heavy and... Peridot looked at Lapis, who had began to laugh. Lapis proceeded to crawl over to Peridot and trap her in a tight hug. "We did it!" Lapis exclaimed. "And... It was nice! Thank you, Peridot!"

Peridot's face deepened to a dark green again. "No... problem..." 

"You guys were amazing! I never expected that!" Steven said as he waddled over to them. "You need to show Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl! They'll be so impressed..."

Peridot couldn't help but chuckle along with Lapis. "I don't know, Steven... It was a lot of work." 

"Aw! Come on!" Steven whined, shifting from foot to foot.

"We'll do it some time." Lapis replied with a little giggle. "You can stop pestering us now."

Steven puffed, but sidled away to leave the two gems back to their celebrations. Lapis turned back to Peridot, sitting down in front of her with a big smile on her face. "I'm glad we did that. It was a really... Great experience." 

"It... It was. I didn't know fusion was so nice." Peridot murmured, her voice quiet as she spoke.

"Let's do it again some time," Lapis said with a smile. "And we can show the gems. It'll be great. You'll be great."

Peridot's blush darkened further and Lapis chuckled. "Yeah... I'll be great."

"You're a nerd, Peridot." Lapis quickly kissed Peridot on the gem, completely jolting Peridot back to her senses and causing her to have the darkest blush she'd ever experienced. Lapis quickly ran off, cackling to herself. It took Peridot a moment, but she quickly stood up and chased Lapis.

"Hey! How do you even know what that means?!" 

"Amethyst told me you were a nerd and explained it to me! And it's true!" Lapis giggled, fast on her feet.

"Amethyst- Wait, what does it mean?" Peridot was far behind and wasn't making much progress. "Hey! Come back here!"

Lapis proceeded to outrun Peridot all the way back to the barn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow look the notes are at the end this time??? OK but really thanks for the support!!!  
> Anyways, the name of their fusion was really disputed between Chrysocolla and Turquoise. Chrysocolla won.  
> Kind of had to assume a lot of the details and beLIEVE ME it was HARD. If you don't like this fusion??? And these headcanons??? Then I'm rly sorry??? I probably messed up somewhere??? But whatever hope you enjoyed it


	10. Sleep is for the Weak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lapis can't sleep, so she forces her insomniac of a friend to come over at 2 AM.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for this being moderately late? (who am i kidding these are ALL late)  
> i was just a little busy this week! there was a lot going on, but i think i'm gonna do pretty good for the next few days, so i'll update The Call asap if you're reading that one!!

Lapis couldn't sleep. Tucked into her bed, eyes wide open and staring at the ceiling, she couldn't sleep. Not a wink of sleep. She wanted to fall asleep so badly, but she just couldn't do it. Letting out a hefty groan, she rolled over in her covers, burying her face in her pillow.

A thought entered her head. A 3AM thought? Maybe. She didn't know what the time was. More importantly, the thought was a question. We're any of her friends awake? She knew at least one of them was a terrible insomniac. She'd probably be awake. It might be weird to try and text her at... Lapis rolled over to see her clock. 2AM. Close enough. It might be weird to text her at 2AM.

Regardless, Lapis took out her phone and searched through her contacts. Peridot. She shot her a text.

_'Peridot, are you awake? 2AM seems like a time you'd be awake.'_

Her autocorrect worked like a miracle in the night. It was great. She waited moments and saw a reply coming up. Patiently waiting, she hummed quietly.

_'of course I am. it's 2am I can never sleep like a normal human being lmao'_

Lapis chuckled lightly at the response and proceeded to type out her own after a moment of thought.

_'Well, I can't sleep. Like, at all. I REALLY want to but I can't. So do you think you could distract me?'_

It sounded like an awkward inquiry. Peridot seemed to be a little startled by it, since it took her a minute or two to reply.

_'sure. how would you like your distraction formatted?'_

Chewing her lip, Lapis made a dangerous manoeuvre.

_'You could come over here and be really, really quiet? Don't want to wake the neighbors.'_

A reply was quickly delivered.

_'are you serious?? Are your parents even home Lapis wtf'_

Lapis considered her options before replying.

_'They're not home.'_

Peridot seemed increasingly uncomfortable.

_'it's the middle of the night and I look like shit. are you sure?'_

Lapis felt like shit. She replied quickly.

_'I'm sure. You're just around the corner anyway. It wouldn't be hard to walk over here?'_

_'Fine Lapis. I'll be there in two'_

Lapis pumped her fist in the air then immediately felt very self conscious. What if Peridot got the wrong idea? She bit her lip softly, thinking about it. What did Peridot think she wanted in the middle of the night?

Lapis felt jittery all of a sudden. Then somebody knocked at the door and she was forced to answer it.

A sleep-deprived Peridot tumbled into her arms and Lapis barely caught her. She shut the door quickly before letting out a sigh and helping Peridot up the stairs to her room. "You okay?" She asked.

"The outdoors late at night are fucking terrifying." Peridot mumbled, latching onto Lapis' arms.

"Peridot, you're 18. How does the outdoors scare you anymore?" Lapis asked, giggling to herself as she slid Peridot's hands off her arms.

"I just... It's dark and empty and the only things lighting anything up are streetlights and the occasional pair of headlights. It's terrible out there. Fuck me." Peridot continued to mutter, proceeding to hold firmly onto Lapis' arms once again.

"Calm down. I'm sorry I made you walk in the dark for two whole minutes. But you're a big girl now." Lapis replied.

"A small, angry gay who doesn't need no man." Peridot murmured, holding Lapis' arm tighter, nearly cutting off the blood supply.

"Peridot, could you... loosen your grip a little?" Lapis asked, staring down Peridot.

Peridot immediately did so, feeling awkward because of it. "Sorry, unintentional."

"S' fine!" Lapis said, batting her hand. "I understand or whatever."

There was silence for a long moment.

"So, what did you actually want me to come around for?"

"I'm bored." Lapis said with a shrug. "Play some games with me."

Peridot raised a brow, letting out a light chuckle. "It's the middle of the night. I thought you didn't want to wake the neighbors."

Lapis shrugged with a little chuckle. "Oh well."

Letting out a yawn, Lapis darted up the stairs to her room, sliding over to her old Wii console and turning it on. Peridot emerged through the door, catching a remote thrown at her by Lapis. "Your Wii is so old." Peridot remarked with a chuckle.

Lapis scoffed as she inserted a disk into the console. "Again, oh well. What's your plan? We go to your house and ransack all your consoles?"

Peridot rolled her eyes and adjusted her glasses. "At least mine are in date."

"Fight me." Lapis mumbled, sitting down on her bed, her eyes half closed at this point. Peridot nudged her as she sat down next to her.

"Don't fall asleep just yet. You literally just invited me around at 2 AM." Peridot huffed, a smirk playing onto her face. 

"I'm not falling asleep just yet, I'm..." Lapis let out a yawn before continuing, "I'm practising."

Peridot snorted, letting out a loud chuckle. "For what?"

"For being tired."

"Liar." Peridot smirked, swatting Lapis with a lazy hand. Lapis let out a small squeak and shoved Peridot away, nearly pushing her off of the bed. "Aaagh, stop pushing me!"

"Sorry, I retaliated." Lapis wiped her eyes before looking at the TV screen. "Alright, let's play some Mario Kart."

Peridot narrowed her eyes. "Mario Kart? In the middle of the night? Please say you have one of those wheel attachments."

Lapis sauntered over tiredly to a shelf and pulled out both a nunchuck and a wheel. "I do. With my other stuff."

Taking the wheel, Peridot fit in her controller and held it as such. "Feels so much more comfortable. I still can't believe that you actually manage to use nunchucks. They're so uncomfortable and annoying?"

Lapis rolled her eyes and proceeded to plug her nunchuck into her controller. "They're not uncomfortable. You're uncomfortable."

"You don't know that. I can be very comfortable." Peridot replied with a sourness in her tone. "You just haven't seen it yet."

"I'd love to see your hidden caring side, Peridot. If you had one." Lapis laughed.

"Shut up. I care about people a lot. I just don't show it a lot of the time because that's my coping method." Peridot grumbled.

"Coping method." Lapis repeated, thinking about it. "I think that's a bad method of coping. Lay it out, Peridot. Tell me what's good."

Lapis patted Peridot's shoulders before embracing her in a clumsy hug, putting all her weight on Peridot and causing the two of them to fall onto the bed. "Lapis! Get off me! I am not telling you 'what's good'." Peridot hissed, struggling.

"Come on, don't be a shy one." Lapis replied, proceeding to untangle herself from Peridot. She rolled off to the side and Peridot grunted as she sat up. "Come on. Feels jam." Lapis insisted.

She latched onto Peridot and dragged her down onto the bed, eyes narrowed and glaring into Peridot's own, more frightened ones. She looked both anxious and awkward, yet still not tired. Lapis, on the other hand, looked very tired but determined. "Lapis, leave me be. It's like, nearly 3 AM now probably. Okay?"

Lapis tugged on Peridot's arm, eventually looping it with her own to create a strong hold. "No. Talk to me, Peridot. You can talk to me. I'm your friend. I'm your friend that is a girl. Your girl-friend."

"You're my girlfriend?" Peridot asked, a brow raised.

"No. Girl-friend." Lapis moved closer to prove her point. It didn't. "We're so close we're practically sisters."

Peridot snorted and pushed Lapis away. "Shut up, you sound ridiculous." She flushed but proceeded to ignore it, laughing instead.

"Still, Peridot. You're the one coping by not caring about other people. Come on, tell me how much you care!" Lapis grabbed Peridot around the neck and ruffled her hair. Peridot proceeded to fall backwards and the pair fought for power over the other in a miniature wrestling match.

"Lapis! We're 18, this is stupid!" Peridot barked as she pinned Lapis down.

"Actually, I'm 19." Lapis pushed Peridot off and rolled to get back on top. "And look who's winning now!"

Peridot let out a quiet squeal and struggled under Lapis' hold. "I know that! And get off me, Lapis! This isn't fair, I have no chance against you!"

"Why do you have no chance, Peridot? Say it." Lapis giggled, bringing her face closer.

"No." Peridot barked.

"Come on. Say it. Say it's because you're..."

"No."

"No, come on Peridot. I'm not letting you go until you say it." Lapis tightened her grip and a smug smirk found it's place on her face.

"...Because I'm smaller." Peridot grumbled quietly.

"Sorry, I didn't quit hear that." Lapis mocked.

"Because I'm smaller!" Peridot yelled, pushing Lapis off of herself. 

Lapis sprawled across the bed, belting out laughter as Peridot let out a soft hiss. Taking a deep breath, Lapis sat up, "Sorry. I win."

Peridot groaned loudly, falling back on Lapis' bed. "You're the worst, Lapis. I hate you."

"Peridot, you're 18. We're not children." Lapis muttered, shaking her head.

"You tell me!" Peridot yelled, sitting up and holding her hands in the air. "You started that fight."

Lapis crawled forward slightly and wrapped her arms around Peridot. "Aahh, come on you little goof. You can forgive me, can't you? That's how close we are. You forgive me for anything I do." She tightened the grip into what was nearly deathly and Peridot immediately felt her hands grab Lapis' arms.

"You're killing me."

"No, Peridot. _You're_  killing _me_." Lapis laughed. The grip loosened slightly.

"Oh thank God."

Lapis yanked Peridot down to the bed and suddenly tightened the grip again. Peridot struggled profusely until she tired her out, huffing incomprehensible phrases of anger. "Calm down, Peridot. Unwind." 

Lapis was breathing a lot more gently than before and she seemed incredibly tired out. Peridot's wide eyes stared back into Lapis' own tired ones. Peridot blinked and her eyes suddenly hurt a whole lot, drooping slightly. "Lapis, I'm..." Peridot let out a soft yawn. "Tired."

"Haha!" Lapis laughed, smiling brightly. "I knew you'd get tired eventually. Come on, chump. Join the sleep train. I'm gonna go turn off the TV and stuff and you can sleep a little. You need it, Peridot. You look really tired."

Lapis unwrapped her arms and hopped over to the TV, flicking the switch. She turned off the console and returned the controllers to their rightful places before rolling back onto her bed. Peridot had now re-positioned herself to a more comfortable position and Lapis yanked the covers over their heads. Intertwining herself with her friend, Lapis giggled quietly. Peridot opened a tired eye to look. "What?"

"I didn't think I'd ever get to see you sleep. I mean, it's usually you seeing me sleep, right?" Lapis chuckled.

In the dark, Lapis didn't see Peridot blush, but she did. "I just don;'t get tired." Peridot replied in a quiet voice. "And you're a really peaceful sleeper. Me... not so much."

With her face merely inches from Peridot's, Lapis let out another soft giggle, touching her forehead to Peridot's. "You're a dork. Just go to sleep already."

With that, Lapis shut her eyes and waited for Peridot to sleep. In a minute or two, she heard a small snore and opened an eye to see Peridot's eyes closed and her emitting the gentle snore. Giggling, she went back to her own sleep and she slept incredibly well that night.


	11. I'm Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lapis enjoys freedom, but proceeds to bump into somebody instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still doing terrible with updating. But your patience enamours me!   
> Yeah, Lapis went to prison.

Lapis had to take a moment to consider - _where did she go wrong with her life._  She'd messed up so many times before, yet that had happened to be her biggest fuck up. It was on her record permanently now. _For life._ She was just lucky she still had a home to go back to. 

Lapis Lazuli had committed a crime and after 5 months, had 'learnt her lesson'. She'd been incredibly drunk and depressed at the time, so no wonder she was a lunatic. It made her question her friend's devotion to her. She didn't have time to question herself right now. She let out a soft groan as she looked down at the clothes she'd had on. The same stuff she went in with, she came out with. But she had just come out of prison. She was out of prison and she was practically smoking. Whatever.

Jangling her keys, she unlocked the door to her house. It smelled good in here, despite barely being tended for. She was lucky to live here. So, so damn lucky. Clenching her teeth, she fell back onto her sofa. It smelled exactly the same. Boy, did she miss that normal house smell.

And now, she was bored of her house. She was ready to go back outside and embrace the freedom. First, she took a moment to think about the women she'd met in prison. Some of them have been in there for over a year. Over _two_ years. Lapis wondered how they survived.

_Go outside. It's what they would want you to do._  Her brain was very good at coaxing her to do things, because Lapis stood up and pranced out her door again, not even bothering to change. Excitement and adrenaline pulsed through her, and then...

She ran into somebody.

The shorter person, who had not been looking where she was going, fell to the floor pretty quickly, so Lapis made an effort to catch her. They both fell like bricks, Lapis falling on top. To be honest, neither of them were actually paying any attention to where they were going. It was fair. 

Now they were both on the floor, but Lapis immediately took it upon herself to roll off the short person so she didn't crush them. She didn't want to be charged with... accidental murder. Especially since she _just got out of prison._  She didn't need a brand-new 1 year sentence. 

She looked over this new person. Short blonde girl. Hair. That reminded Lapis of her own hair. She needed to touch up her roots. Her hands flew to her hair and she messed around with it for a moment until realizing that she was still alive and had just ran into a person who was now staring at her. Lapis jumped to life, retracting her hands from her hair. "Sorry! I didn't mean to knock you over, haha! Just having a really, _really_ good day!"

The short girl stood up, so Lapis followed suit. It was going good so far. "I wasn't paying attention." Lapis watched as the girl scanned her briefly. "It's none of my business, but why are you so happy? You look..."

The girl didn't say anything else. Lapis took it as an invitation to speak. Why not spread the word? Yeah, she was proud of herself. "Well, if you're really curious..." The girl's expression didn't change. "I got out of prison today."

The girl suddenly looked very intimidated and scared. Lapis diffused the situation immediately. "I didn't do anything terrible, I was really drunk and dumb and sad and I may have had to serve 5 months for it but I've learnt, I swear!" 

She gave the girl a reassuring look, so the girl returned her expression to a slightly less concerned one. "Good for you."

The girl began to walk off, so Lapis followed idly. She felt like she could become friends with her. Yes. "So, my name's Lapis Lazuli."

"Okay, if you're trying to be my friend, I don't want an ex-convict as my friend." The girl responded.

Lapis let out a huff and blocked her off. "Come on! I have friends all over the country now. Hey, if you have a problem, I even know a hired killer. Or an assassin. Same thing." 

"I'm not sure if that was supposed to be a threat or an offering, but I'm feeling pretty threatened." She seemed increasingly sour by the moment. "The name's Peridot. Peridot Grey."

"It was supposed to be a reassuring offer, but you know..." Lapis moved to the side to let Peridot walk again. "You got a job, Peridot? Because I sure don't."

"Yes, as a matter of fact. I do." Peridot answered. The blonde still seemed very uninterested by everything Lapis had to say, but she was still working on it. "I'm an engineer."

"Oh! Engineering. Very cool. I hear it's a nice work environment. Your co-workers nice?" Lapis replied.

"Pearl is a jerk, but I know enough shit about her to have every single newspaper on her back. That bitch stole my space _in_  space. But I know her-- She's cheating on her ex-convict girlfriend with her ex-girlfriend who happens to both have a son and a husband _and_ runs the corporation we work in." Peridot stated.

"Well, shit. That's a lot of information-- Hey, what's her girlfriend's name?" Lapis asked.

"Amethyst, I think. She was in for minor theft - I did my research."

"I think I know her! She have purple hair?" Lapis' face lit up. She was being helpful to a total stranger.

"Yeah, when I saw her with Pearl she had purple hair. Like, a wild mane of purple hair." Peridot answered casually. "I can't believe she sticks around with Pearl."

"I do know her. Also, I don't _know_ Pearl, but maybe you're wrong about the cheating thing? That seems like a lot of trouble for one engineer. And Amethyst is nice-- A trustworthy girlfriend is what she needed." Lapis thought.

"Are you sure you even went to prison?" Peridot asked. "You seem to be living your own dreamy life that I don't think an ex-convict would live."

"Peridot, this is day one. Tomorrow I am going to be sobbing like a little bitch. I'm really just thrilled to be out. But I could still stab a bitch if I had to." Lapis joked, nudging her new friend.

Peridot let out a chuckle. It wasn't smooth and it sounded like it could do with some fine tuning, but that was probably because it was so underused. A smile split onto Lapis' face and she opened her mouth to say something else but was shortly interrupted by Peridot. "Lapis. You seem interesting. My schedule for the day is suddenly clear, let's go for a coffee and you can tell me about life in prison."

Lapis was rather astounded. She didn't have anything else to do so she couldn't really refuse. Not that she would want to refuse it. Things like this didn't just happen out of no where. "Yeah, sure. Lead the way, Peridot."

"I know I may seem weird, inviting a total stranger who just got out of prison to drink coffee with me." Peridot mumbled as she walked. "But if I was weirding you out, you would be gone by now. Well, if weird's what you're into, I'm okay with it."

Lapis let out an awkward chuckle and shook her head. "I'm not 'into' anything. Just bored and happy and suddenly really charismatic. Prison _does_  shape you into a model citizen, I guess." 

Peridot lead her into a coffee shop Lapis had never heard of, let alone gone into. "Haha. Well, what do you want? It's on me."

"Thanks. I can't really pay for it now anyway. I left everything at home. I'll just have whatever you're having." Lapis replied.

"Caffè Americano?" Peridot asked.

"Haha, I take it back. Just get me a latte." 

Peridot put through the order and sent Lapis to go grab a seat. Lapis complied and prepared herself for heavy questioning on her previous criminal life. Sifting through the possible questions, she tapped the table. Answering would be relatively easy, unless she asked stupid questions. Peridot didn't seem like the kind of person who'd ask stupid questions. Lapis snapped herself out of her thoughts as Peridot sat down across the table, placing a latte down in front of Lapis.

"So. What'd you do to get in jail?" Peridot asked. Getting straight to the point, obviously.

Lapis took a deep breath. Explaining the story was always a struggle. And by a struggle, she meant she could barely remember it. She was absolutely smashed at the time. "Well, I was super drunk. I can't even remember it that well. I just did something really, _really_ stupid. I'd also like to mention I was with a  _friend_  at the time. I don't think we're technically friends anymore though. I never called them while I was in prison. But, yeah. We just went around and did a lot of stupid shit. And she didn't even get arrested. What a bitch."

"Well, that's a nice reminder to never let you near any alcohol ever." Peridot replied with a light laugh, sipping her drink.

"Hey, I can be fun. I was having a bad day, okay? And I wasn't under control, and... I was really drunk. Like, not normal drunk. Liver problems drunk." Lapis said, taking a sip of her own drink.

"Liver problems drunk? You might have a problem there, Lapis. Drink sensibly." 

"I do drink sensibly. I've learnt my lesson. How many times do I have to say that?" Lapis sighed. She crossed her legs and stared out of the window for a moment, looking at the people passing by.

Peridot followed her gaze and watched the people with her. "They all seem to have such simple lives, right? Different to me and you. Ex-convict and engineer under constant pressure... Who were you before this happened, anyway?"

Lapis looked back at Peridot, a far away look in her eyes. "I was... nobody, really. Just a person, living out her life. Yeah. I never really had a chance to be someone or something great."

"Maybe. You might have. The future isn't exactly predictable, I guess. I never thought I'd really become an engineer." Peridot shrugged and continued to drink.

Lapis let out a quiet 'tsk' before elaborating. "I don't know. I always wanted to be an artist. I do a lot of general work but I haven't actually managed to find something I like so much. I think I'm gonna try the tattoo industry next."

Peridot chuckled. "That seems like your kinda thing. Inflicting pain on others to put beauty on their skin."

Lapis smiled. "They asked for it. And you don't even know me that well yet! I could be really nice and you wouldn't know."

"I think I know you pretty well already. You don't hold back much." 

"Shut up! Let me give you a chance to _really_ get to know me." Lapis huffed. Without a second thought, she took out a pen - she carried pens around a lot - and wrote down her number on a napkin. Pushing it across the table, she tried to come across as casual, looking in a different direction. She retracted her hand and glanced at the table to see Peridot take the napkin. She gave herself a mental hi-five of success, smiling subtly. This was a great success. She took another little sip of her latte. "Text me or something like that."

Peridot was grinning, which was good. "Will do."

"Talk to you then, I guess." With that, Lapis the ex-convict stood up and sauntered out of the cafe after briefly finishing her drink, leaving Peridot to her own business. She felt extremely good. Only just out of prison and already doing an incredible job. Those people taught her well.


End file.
